Taiwanese businesspeople are returning to Subic Bay after an investment craze in the 1990s, as the Philippines is again seen as ideal for tapping into the Southeast Asian market.
With lingering economic challenges in Europe and only moderate growth in the US and Japan, developing Asian countries have become a driving force for the global economy.
The ASEAN economies are expected to transform into a single market and production base in the near future.
Jeff Lin (林繼武), president of Subic Bay Development Management Center Inc, a joint venture between the local government authority and Taiwan’s United Development Corp (世華開發), said that the ASEAN market looks promising. He said that Taiwanese businesspeople should take advantage of the Philippines as a springboard to the ASEAN market, which has a population of 640 million and a combined GPD of US$2.4 trillion.
In the Subic Bay Special Economic Zone, investors only pay a 5 percent tax on gross income, which can help save costs, Lin said.
If 40 percent of the investors’ products are manufactured locally, the products are sold duty-free on the ASEAN market, he added.
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