Korean resort project boosts investment portfolio of Subic

A resort project proposed by Korean property developer M Castle Philippines Ltd. Co. has brought the total amount of foreign direct investments (FDI) in Subic Freeport to $1.11 billion in the first half of this year.

According to the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority’s Business and Investment Group (SBMA-BIG), the South Korean company has committed a total of $350,000 upon signing in as Subic-registered business last January, and then pledged an entire $1 billion on May 7 for the resort project.

M Castle’s entry into the Subic Freeport “greatly boosted Subic ’s FDI generation this year,” said SBMA administrator and CEO Armand Arreza.

SBMA records indicated that before M Castle’s project was approved, new FDIs in the free port stood at $114.58 million, out of the $185.87 million total commitments generated in the first six months.

Overall employment projection for the new investment projects, meanwhile, was placed by the SBMA at 6,833.

Arreza said M Castle would develop a 615-hectare property at the nearby community of Morong in Bataan . The project, to be called Resom Resort City-Subic, would include the development of an integrated world-class recreational leisure resort featuring beach condo units and villas, a five-star casino-hotel, a marina club, as well as 36-hole golf course.

The Korean developer also intends to establish within the complex a water park, a convention facility, a medical center, a shopping mall, and an English-language learning center.

“This is another billion-dollar project from a Korean firm, and just like shipbuilder Hanjin, we expect M Castle to usher in more investments in related industries and businesses,” Arreza said.

Calling the project a “major employment booster”, Arreza added that it will also spearhead the SBMA’s push toward the development of nearby communities into expansion areas for both tourism and commercial ventures.

With its $1-billion commitment, M Castle topped the list of the biggest FDI projects in the Subic Bay Freeport in the first half of this year.

Other projects in the top 10 list are: Chinese alternative energy company Sunnew-Subic Investments Ltd., with investment pledges of $75 million; German-UK firm Alubat Aviation Composites Philippines, $15 million; Jordanian Vapco International Corp., $5.33 million; Taiwanese manufacturer Advance Subic Screw Inc., $1.5 million; Taiwanese firm Chinmei Metal Mfg. Inc., $1.45 million; US-Canadian firm Aviation Concepts Holdings, with $1.1 million; Chinese-Canadian-Filipino joint venture Misung subic, Inc., $1 million; Korean firm Nova Freeport Resources Inc., $.87 million; Taiwanese MCom Subic Corporation, $.86 million; and Korean MH Fair Bridge Inc., with $.73 million.