Subic and Clark will cash in on the construction of a proposed superhighway linking them.AS PART of the effort to stimulate growth in the Philippines' central and northern Luzon, former US military bases Subic Bay Freeport and the Clark Special Economic Zone have forged an alliance that will promote the two economic zones as a package to make both more attractive to investors.
Called the Subic-Clark Alliance Development (SCAD), it will be heavily promoted to foreign investors who look at Subic and Clark as the ideal alternative to Metro Manila, the country's central, and busiest, district.
According to Mar Roxas, secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the two economic zones entering into an agreement is a "mould-breaking" development, since each would have to give up some autonomy to achieve solid and consolidated development planning.
The DTI chief said a co-ordinating task force would be created to facilitate the planned alliance, and noted that fomer DTI secretary and now special envoy Rizalino Navarro would act as co-ordinator of the project.
The government-run Presidential Commission for the Central Luzon Growth Corridor said the task force would map out plans for the implementation of the SCAD programme.
It will also implement common programmes, policies, rules and regulations to pursue the common goals of the programme, Roxas said.
He added that the task force would also create a single investment incentive package with the least amount of red tape and with sufficient flexibility for implementation, within the context of the specific mandates of each economic zone.
Subic and Clark, seen by many as Asia's regional trans-shipment hub, will be jump-started through the construction of a superhighway linking both economic zones and through the development of world-class port facilities via the Subic seaport and Clark airport.
Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SMBA) chairman Felicito Payumo said the construction of the Subic-Clark Toll Road would reinforce the alliance, noting that the 45-kilometre road tying the Subic Freeport and Clark Ecozone has recently acquired the approval of the interagency investment co-ordinating committee for a US$425-million Japanese-led Obuchi funding.
Creating a synergy between Subic and Clark is the only rational means to connect the strategic assets of the two growth areas, according to Payumo.
He noted that Subic has an intact ecosystem, natural deep harbour and port facilities, while Clark has broad flatlands for industrial development plus an airport with two parallel runways.