SUBIC BAY FREEPORT – Japanese developer partners at the Subic Techno Park (STEP) have agreed to double annual dividend payments for the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) to almost US$1 million.

This was revealed by SBMA Chairman and Administrator Jonathan D. Tan following a STEP board meeting in Tokyo, Japan on November 17.

STEP, which hosts mostly Japanese-owned manufacturing companies, is a joint venture between the SBMA, Japan International Development Organization (JAIDO), and Toyo Construction Co. Ltd. (TOYO) that was executed in April 1996.

The joint venture agreement covered the planning, development, construction, operation and maintenance of STEP’s 74-hectare industrial estate inside the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.

As agreed by the parties, SBMA will have a 49.97% equity share while Japanese developers led by STEP President Ichiro Tsuji and his associates will have 50.03% equity.

Tan said that the SBMA only received dividends of almost half a million dollasrs from STEP last year. This year, however, the agency stands to receive dividends in the amount of $999,333.64, Tan added.

Tan and SBMA director Kenneth G. Rementilla led the SBMA delegation that attended the Tokyo board meeting recently. The two represented the agency and are nominees to the STEP board.

Tsuji disclosed that over the years, STEP has taken in eight major Japanese locators and 10 smaller companies, collectively occupying more than 70% of the leasable areas within the industrial estate.

“This, in turn, has led to the employment of approximately 10,000 local and foreign workers, who significantly contribute to the growth of the local economy,” he added.

Meanwhile, companies inside the STEP are now expanding their operations due to the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act (Create) law. One of the companies, Nidec Subic Philippines Corporation, is set to generate close to 5,000 jobs until the last incentivized year under the CREATE Law.

Nidec Subic President Takeshi Yamamoto said the firm will increase its manpower steadily through its P4.2-billion expansion project in this Freeport. The Japanese manufacturing firm currently has a workforce of 622.

Meanwhile, Japanese computer parts manufacturing firm Sanyo Denki recently broke ground for a 30-hectare complex that will house its US$10-million expansion project inside the STEP.

Sanyo Denki is expected to hire additional 1,000 workers initially for the production of computer parts that are exported globally. 