As the Philippines’ first and largest free port and the choice investment site of domestic and foreign businesses, Subic Bay is sailing onward towards becoming a premier free port in Asia. A former United States navy base, Subic Bay was converted into a self-sustaining industrial, commercial, financial, tourism and investment centre in 1992 under the management of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA).

Out of 54 government-owned and controlled corporations, SBMA ranked 11th in 2015, remitting a total of US$11.5 million in dividends to the national treasury. During the first eight months of last year, SBMA had an investment turnout of close to US$2.2 billion, which is expected to generate more than 53,000 jobs within the next four years. One of the agency’s biggest accomplishments last year was a US$1.2 billion investment project by an Australian firm slated to strengthen Subic Bay’s position as a global logistics hub.

Subic Bay is also a favourable site for shipyards and shipbuilding activities. Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction-Philippines, one of SBMA’s major business locators, is set to build three ultra-large container ships that can accommodate up to 20,600 twenty-foot equivalent units. This reinforces the Philippines’ position as the world’s fourth-largest shipbuilding nation.

Other developments in Subic Bay include the construction of a US$10 million footwear manufacturing facility of a Taiwanese firm; a US$30 million mill project by a Singapore-based flour manufacturer; and the installation of a US$200 million combined solar and wind farm by a domestic firm – the biggest solar power project in Southeast Asia.