CDC leads in employment, exports in Central Luzon

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga: Business firms based in this freeport have made significant contributions in the export industry and employment in Central Luzon. Clark Development Corp. (CDC) president Benigno Ricafort said that the freeport has earned about $891 million from exports in the first half of the year or 33 percent of Region III’s $2.7-billion total exports of 2009.

Based on the report, the total exports coming from CDC rose more than 93 percent, or about $387 million during the first semester as compared to the same period a year ago.

The CDC is determined to hit its target of $1-billion worth of exports for 2010 as manufacturers continue to post the same trend towards the second semester of the year.

Capturing the biggest volume of exports, Nanox Philippines, Inc. earned $493 million in the first semester or 59-percent higher than the same period in 2009, the Economics and Research Department reported.

Yokohama Tire Philippines Inc., on the other hand, also contributed strongly in the first semester as it placed second with $106 million.

Ricafort also said that 58,023 workers got employment by the end of 2009, which complemented the entire region’s 3,889,000 partial count on employment for the year.

At present, Clark’s P6.3 billion worth of actual investments is 19 percent of the region’s total investments of P33.8 billion for 2009.

According to Ricafort, Clark’s bigger contributions are forth coming as the global economy recovers—as good projects in the pipeline are pursued, and the number of capability-enhancing measures instituted by CDC this year bring in positive results, Ricafort said in the executive summary. –MARK ANTHONY P. ROXAS, Manila Times