CAPITOL COMPOUND, Bataan- Governor Abet S. Garcia expressed optimism that the year 2015 will bring more progress to Bataan with the reported pouring in of billions of pesos in new investments.
The bachelor governor told the more than 1,000 provincial capitol employees during the flag raising ceremony this morning that with the two existing free ports in Bataan- Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) and Freeport Area of Bataan (FAB)- together with the Hermosa Economic Zone, a lot of new investors are expected to pour in fresh investments this year.
Seventy five percent of the total land area of SBMA belongs to Bataan while FAB, located in Mariveles town, is the fastest growing Freeport in terms of economic growth in the country.
Garcia, who authored the FAB law when he was a congressman, said that FAB alone had P84 billion new investment pledges while SBMA has P24 billion new investment pledges for this year alone.
More than 100,000 workers and personnel are employed in SBMA and FAB and this number is expected to rise with the arrival of new investors in these two Freeport zones.
Aside from these two freeport zones, Petron Bataan Refinery in Limay town is also fast-tracking its multi billion expansion program aside from the reported plan to transfer its depot in Pandacan here in Bataan. Another fast growing ecozone is the Hermosa Ecozone that employs thousands of workers.
“We can see better prospects for investments in Bataan this year,” Garcia added.
