Bataan free port offers excellent attractions, hosts GICC

With its outstanding features, the Freeport Area of Bataan (FAB) has been touted as the economic dragon of the Philippines, attracting major industries in the manufacturing sector, business process outsourcing (BPO) and information technology (IT).

Among all FAB locators, Grand Innovasia Concept Corp (GICC) is the only Master Licensor for BPO Online/Interactive Gaming for the international market. GICC is building the first techno park in the free port, which will serve as GICC's centre for BPO online and interactive gaming activities, and other IT services, such as data centres, in the country. 

GICC expresses its confidence that the FAB will boost the firms' business, noting that it is an investment-friendly free port that offers superior incentives. The FAB provides income tax holidays for up to eight years, and exemptions from import taxes on capital equipment and raw materials, wharfage dues and export taxes. 

"Our autonomy has given us focus and flexibility," says Deogracias Custodio, FAB's chairman and administrator. "We don't have to report back to Manila for decisions as we have an independent board that can quickly react to market developments."

Strategically located along the entrance to Manila Bay, the 1,700-hectare facility has a dedicated 600MW power plant offering the lowest power rates in the country. A 2.4-billion-gallon-capacity dam can supply 14 million gallons of water daily, while locators can lease land for only 16.93 pesos (HK$2.93) per square metre monthly. The FAB also boasts of having the largest government manpower training centre in central Luzon, which has a labour force of more than seven million. 

The free port has rolled out several initiatives and a master-planned community to cement its position as the emerging high-end fashion manufacturing hub of the Philippines.