MARIVELES, Bataan, Oct. 7 (PIA) – In just five years after paradigm shift in administration, the Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB) is gunning for a third-straight-year feat as the fastest growing freeport in the country.
AFAB generated about P84 billion worth of investments in the first half of 2014 which is 138,000 percent higher compared to the P60.5 million it netted in the same period last year.
In a statement, the authority said that due to sudden surge in its foreign direct investments, the Freeport Area of Bataan (FAB) has been recognized as the fastest growing freeport in the country in 2012 and 2013 by the National Statistics Coordination Board (NSBC).
“Since the Authority took over operations from the Bataan Export Processing Zone, it was able to increase the number of locators by nearly 236 percent, from 39 in 2010 to 92 in August this year,” said AFAB chair Deogracias Custodio.
“The AFAB is also luring more foreign investments. These are among the reasons why the FAB was tagged as the fastest growing freeport in the country,” he added.
Custodio said that these record-high investment pledges proved the authority’s perseverance to contribute in the growth of local economy and generate more jobs.
FAB has employed 18,543 workers as of August compared to the 12,777 freeport employees in 2010, the year when AFAB took over operations.
“We assure the national government and the locals in Bataan that we will continue to bring more investments in the region and make sure that the economic growth is felt by the people,” Custodio said.
According to NSBC, in 2013, AFAB garnered P2.1 billion worth of foreign investment approvals and registered the highest increase among investment promotion agencies in the country.
In 2012, it collected P390.6 million worth of FI approvals and registered also the highest increase, besting Board of Investments (BOI), Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA), Clark Development Corporation (CDC), Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA). (JMG/PIA 3, Bataan)
