Hanjin of South Korea to build $1-B shipyard in Subic

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT – Korea’s Hanjin Shipping, one of the world’s largest shipping companies, has made official its plan to build the country’s biggest shipyard here worth about $1 billion.

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman Feliciano G. Salonga said the plan concretized the agreement signed between the SBMA and Hanjin Shipping officials last year.

"The agreement that was signed last August 2005 covers the basic principle governing the lease of parcel of lands in the Redondo area inside the Subic Bay Freeport as the future site of the new Hanjin shipyard," Salonga said.

He added that the decision of Hanjin’s management to pursue its plan to establish a shipbuilding plant in Subic would generate more than 30,000 direct and indirect job opportunities. This will also put the Philippines in the world map of large-scale shipbuilding.

Salonga further explained that the project would also complement the ongoing construction of the new container port under the Subic Port Development Project, as well as the Subic – Clark Toll Road Project both being funded by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).

"The Hanjin project will form part of the SBMA’s contribution to the realization of President Arroyo’s 10-point economic agenda," SBMA administrator Armand C. Arreza said.

Arreza also noted the efforts of the SBMA in promoting the Subic Bay Freeport as among the ideal investment places in the region communities abroad, including Taiwan, Korea and Vietnam.

Hanjin Shipping aims to generate some $6.52 billion in sales this year, or 4.8-percent increase from its 2005 sales. Hanjin is also targeting to double its investment to $580 million this year. – Ric Sapnu, Bebot Sison Jr.