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CLARK
FREEPORT—The largest business group here and at the
Subic Freeport joined forces through the signing of a
memorandum of agreement (MOA) recently to enhance the
development of the Subic-Clark Alliance Development
Program and the Central Luzon Growth Corridor.
The
Clark Investors and Locators Association (CILA) and the
Subic Bay Freeport Chamber of Commerce (SBFCC), led by
their presidents, signed the MOA after a brief program
at the Hotel Stotsenberg here recently.
Under
the MOA, CILA and SBFCC will “cooperate with each other
in enhancing the Subic-Clark Alliance Development
Program and the Central Luzon Growth Corridor through
the use of each other’s infrastructure and facilities;
information and communications technology; promotions
and marketing, and exchange of ideas, expertise,
research and planning.”
The
agreement also aims to “shed parochialism” by allowing
both CILA and SBFCC to combine forces amid “fierce
competition” from neighboring Asian countries and other
emerging economies worldwide.
CILA
president Jeannie del Rosario-Ng, who signed the
agreement with SBFCC president John Corcoran, said Subic
and Clark’s new role is to transform the two former US
military bases into world-class regional logistics hubs
that cover both air and marine transport.
“This
relationship makes perfect sense because of the
Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway [SCTEx],” Del Rosario-Ng
said, citing travel time between Clark and Subic has
been cut short significantly by 30 minutes because of
the new, 94-km expressway that connects the two
free-port zones.
The
MOA-signing also spawned the creation of an advisory
committee that allows both parties to exchange
information useful for planning, financing, development,
governance, operation, and promotion and marketing of
their respective free-port zones.
To
attract more investments to Subic and Clark, CILA and
SBFCC agreed to encourage and generate investments
through a system of referral and joint promotions and
marketing.
The two
groups will also organize investment missions focusing
on high-tech manufacturing industries and other sectors
that specialize in air-cargo transport, transshipment
and tourism.
“The
next few years are full of promise for Clark and Subic
and with our accord, we are confident that we are better
armed to meet the challenges and take advantage of these
opportunities,” Del Rosario-Ng said. |
