MANILA, Philippines - The Subic Bay Freeport Zone (SBFZ) has recently been crowned Asia’s premier freeport by the fDi Global Free Zone awards.
With 79 entries worldwide, SBFZ bagged the coveted award as overall winner for Asia. Aside from this award, SBFZ also won best freeport for South and Southeast Asian region. SBFZ also received the special BESPOKE awards for Infrastructure development and reinvestment. The competition gauges each freeport zone according to their attractiveness, growth and performance, quality and size of investors in place, investors’ expansion, initiatives to increase number of tenants and locators, infrastructure development and facilities upgrades.
The fDi Global Free Zones of the Year Awards 2015 acknowledges the best free zones across the world. Now on its 11th year of publication, fDi, a bi-monthly publication of London’s The Financial Times limited, is known to assist investment portfolio authorities, free zones, and various countries in attracting foreign investments from key industries by highlighting key investment incentives and infrastructures available to key regions around the globe.
fDi took particular note of SBFZ’s business-friendly environment, citing its strategic location, ideal corporate policies, and reliable security system.
fDi, also recognized Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority’s efforts to provide easy access to SBFZ’s through its modal transport hub. The facility provides land, sea, and air transportation to the port, capitalizing on its ideal position in the heart of Asia’s burgeoning markets.
“We’re grateful to have received this award as a validation of all the hard work of our 2,700 employees in pursuing our our strategic initiatives,” said Roberto V. Garcia, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) chairman and administrator.
SBMA manages and develops the SBFZ’s corporate sector, securing business operations through a various array of initiatives.
Exemptions from local and national taxes, coupled with a fixed five percent final gross income tax, was likewise seen by fDi as conducive to business growth and development for Subic Bay Freeport locators. This is complemented by SBMA’s creation of a labor center which fDI credits for focusing on the amicable settlement of worker relations, allowing the port to enjoy a strike free environment for its whole 23 year existence.
The SBMA management was also praised for its round-the-clock security measures with its 911 hotline ready to alert the port’s own police force and fire department in cases of emergency. SBMA’s fire department has been elevated to the Gawad Kasalasag Region 3 Hall of Fame for its three consecutive years award as Best Government Agency in Emergency and Disaster response.
The award-giving body attributed SBFZ’s success in attracting numerous multinational corporations to these measures. These companies include McDonald’s Corp., Philip Morris, and Starbucks among others.
According to its annual State of the Freeport Address, the metropolitan authority recorded revenue gains across various sectors. From 2014 SBMA listed an increase rate 45 percent in its actual revenue, 21 percent in total operating revenues, and 45 percent in maritime and logistics. Tourism landed the biggest gain with reported a 61 percent growth in FPIs, in the previous year.