By HENRY EMPEÑO

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) is taking resolute steps to realize its port development program that seeks to make the Subic Bay Freeport a global player in maritime trade.

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said the Subic agency is now establishing networks with major ports in the United States to gain strategic knowledge and best practices for local application.

In a Philippine trade mission last month, Eisma signed an agreement with John Reinhart, the CEO of Virginia Port Authority (VPA), for the two ports to share best practices in port development and trade promotion.

A similar agreement with the Los Angeles Port Authority (LAPA) is in the offing, with signing scheduled in March next year for an exchange of ideas on break-bulk operation and cruise ship terminal operation.

“We’re definitely moving seriously now into the expansion and development mode for the Port of Subic because this is what Subic Bay is all about—global maritime business,” Eisma explained over the weekend.

“We may have the most strategic location and we may have the best potential in the region, but if our assets remained underdeveloped and underutilized, we’d end up zero just the same. So this is very, very important for Subic—it must start now, and it must be completed within just a few years,” she added.

Eisma said that in partnership with sister-ports, Subic will be developing a workable plan and a realizable timetable.

Already, the Subic official has made tentative discussions with both VPA and LAPA officials last month, focusing on Subic’s port expansion plans and business potentials, as well as the necessary upgrades to make Subic a global maritime trade player.

In particular, Eisma said that LAPA Trade Development Director Jim MacLellan has recommended to maximize Subic’s potential to be the next cruise ship playground in the ASEAN region, not only by increasing cruise ship arrival and port revenues, but also by developing downstream industries like arts and crafts, culture, music and related industries to promote a sustainable cruise tourism program.

Eisma added that they also discussed a direct port-to-port service route from the Port of Los Angeles to Subic Bay Freeport, which could cater to container port traffic demand between the West Coast and the Philippines, as well as increase efficiency and lower the cost of shipping.

Eisma explained that there is now a proposal to consolidate cargoes in the West Coast and that the Port of Subic Bay is emerging as the possible gateway and transhipment point in the Philippines.

With these developments, the plan by SBMA and the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) to draft and integrate their master plans for the next phase of development of the Subic-Clark Economic Corridor “fits nicely in the overall design for Subic port,” Eisma said.

Meanwhile, SBMA Port Marketing Manager Ronnie Yambao said that a proposal to use Subic for the distribution of agricultural products also cropped up in discussions during the trade mission.

He said a Mexican company supplying avocado to Japan has proposed to use Subic’s proximity to Japan as a unique selling proposition, while a Filipino-American firm was said to be eyeing cacao farming and production in Subic for eventual distribution worldwide.

Some companies were also planning to use Subic for the shipment of US-bound commodities produced by manufacturers based in Palawan and Bicol, he added.

Yambao also said that a plan by Mober, the latest mobile app-enabled, on-demand cargo-delivery company, to launch its service in Subic Bay in June 2018 would further increase the attractiveness of Subic as a transhipment and distribution hub.

 

Top Photo: SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma observes shipping operations at the Los Angeles Port complex.