MARIVELES, Bataan—The Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (Afab) has secured some P6.2 billion in investment commitments in 2015, as more investors expressed confidence in putting up their businesses at the Freeport Area of Bataan (FAB).
The investment pledges were poured into the industries of manufacturing, business-process outsourcing (BPO) and information technology, tourism and power.
Major locators include a manufacturer of high-end bag accessories, a food-processing firm and corporations with businesses related to renewable-energy projects and tourism development.
Moreover, the LKY Resorts and Hotels Inc. also opened the first four-star hotel at the free port, the Oriental Hotel Bataan, after it renovated the historic Hilltop Hotel last year.
Meanwhile, 16 more BPO companies will open in the first IT Technopark in the FAB and in Bataan that seen to generate at least 4,900 jobs in the next three years.
The FAB has been tagged as the emerging economic dragon of the country after it maintained its status as the fastest-growing free port from 2012 to 2014.
Ponciano Manalo Jr., former undersecretary of the Department of Trade and Industry’s Trade and Investment Promotions Group, is also encouraging investors in the garments and leatherwear manufacturing industry to locate in the FAB.