SBMA woos foreign investors in Dubai trade mission

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chair and Administrator Wilma Eisma talks with Orhan Abbas, UAE flag-carrier Emirates senior vice president for the Far East, for possible Dubai-Subic flights. (Photo courtesy of SBMA)

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—Various investors abroad have expressed interest in this economic zone as the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) drummed up its campaign to boost key industries in the freeport.

In a Feb. 23 statement, SBMA Chair and Administrator Wilma Esima said she had met with business people during a recent trade mission in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), promoting the freeport as a sustainable and competitive business and industrial center in the Philippines.

She said there were potential investors in cargo logistics, renewable energy, aviation, vaccine manufacturing, and compliance solutions.

Among these were Abu Dhabi Ports, a logistics operator and manager of industrial zones and ports in the UAE; and the Philippine Business Council of Dubai and the Northern Emirates, which promotes cooperation among business communities in Dubai, the Northern Emirates, and the Philippines.

Eisma said she also offered the Subic Bay International Airport as an alternative hub for the UAE flag-carrier Emirates.

She said she pitched the prospective partnership during a meeting with Orhan Abbas, the firm’s senior vice president for the Far East.

“This might increase the number of commercial flights from Dubai to the Philippines and from the Philippines to Dubai,” she said.

During the Dubai trip, Eisma also attended the Philippine Country Business Briefing headed by Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez on Feb. 11 and participated the following day in the Philippine National Day, attended by thousands of Filipinos in Dubai.

“We have high hopes that Subic got the attention of major industry members in the UAE, especially with the endorsement we received from the Philippine Business Council of Dubai and the Northern Emirates,” Eisma said.

SBMA Senior Deputy Administrator for Operations Ronnie Yambao, who accompanied Eisma in Dubai, said the Subic team briefed business people and venture capitalists on trade opportunities in Subic, promoting the free port as a premier investment destination in the Southeast Asian region.