MANILA, 20 May — The Philippines may at last have an answer to the United States’ Silicon Valley in the Subic Freeport which is fast evolving into a regional center for high technology businesses. This was the claim of Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority Chairman Felicito C. Payumo who said Subic Bay is also considered the regional hub for training activities, attracting prominent entities that have plans of expanding their presence in Southeast Asia.
“These companies are realizing the potential of Subic Freeport as an ideal regional training center,” Payumo said. He added that apart from its strategic location, Subic Bay is equipped with facilities, infrastructure and a trainable manpower.
The latest high tech global company that moved to Subic Bay was the CAE Inc. of Canada. The company is engaged in commercial and military flight simulation and training, as well as naval control systems and forestry process control. As part of its activities, CAE monitors naval and commercial marine infrastructure investments for turnkey training and maintenance projects.
Payumo said CAE believes Subic Bay has the potential to become a future marine training and maintenance center in Southeast Asia. Apart from CAE, another global firm Wartsila Corp. is also planning a $160,000 expansion of its existing regional training center in the free port.
Wartsila is a major supplier of solutions for decentralized power generation, ship power and marine propulsion as well as support services. It is expected to infuse an additional $160,000 for the setting up of a regional training hub.
The center will train Wartsila personnel and customers from South Korea, China, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam and Papua New Guinea.
Wartsila is a partner of IDESS Maritime Center, an SBMA enterprise that had also set up its regional maritime training center in Pampanga. IDESS has an investment of $2 million and a lease term of 25 years in Subic Bay.
