PIA Press Release Saturday, January 21, 2012Clark exports breached $2B mark in 2011CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga, January 21 (PIA) -- The state-owned Clark Development Corporation (CDC) announced that the value of exports from the world-class Freeport for 2011 have breached the $2 billion mark three years earlier than the target date set by the state-owned firm.CDC President Felipe Antonio B. Remollo said despite an apparent decline in Philippine exports due to a worldwide economic slump last year, Clark-based enterprises were able to ship at least $2.258 billion exports between January and December 2011. Comparatively, Remollo said the amount is a remarkable 55 percent increase from the $1.453 billion exports recorded in 2010. According to Remollo, the $1.573 billion exports from Clark’s electronic sector helped propel the record surge. This was followed by tire exports at $298 million and garments at $226 million. Manufacturing firms contributed $131 million while aviation-related companies completed the top five exporting sectors with $13 million. “The country’s export performance may not be altogether bleak as exports of the Clark Freeport Zone exceeded the 2 billion mark a good three years earlier than the target date set by the CDC,” Remollo said. The 2011 record export volume puts CDC on track in attaining the three major performance targets dubbed “3-2-1 Development Roadmap” for Clark by 2014. Accordingly, the major performance targets are $3 billion in investments, $2 billion in exports, and 100,000 jobs. “With these developments in the exports sector, the present trends show that these targets are attainable much earlier than planned,” Remollo said. Perennial top exporter Nanox Philippines Inc. remains at the top of CDC’s list with exports of more than $791 million in custom-designed products such as Liquid Crystal Display panels, LCD modules, Monochrome LCDs, and other related electronic parts. Trailing behind is 2010-established Phoenix Semiconductor Philippines Corp. (PSPC) that exported more than $566 million in electronic parts with DDR3, NAND, Flash Cards and SSD, as well as memory modules for PCs and notebooks. Last year’s second top exporter, Yokohama Tires Philippines, Inc. slids to third with over $298 million in tires exports. Notwithstanding the drop in ranking, Yokohama’s export value is still 31 percent higher compared to that of last year. Two more firms, L&T International and SMK Electronic complete the list of top five Clark exporters with $145 million and $98 million in garments and electronics exports, respectively. Other top performing firms include HLD Clark Steel Pipe, which exported more than $71 million to place sixth on the list of top exporters and is a mark of the growing significance of the “other manufacturing” sector of Clark. In terms of year-to-year growth, Clark’s “other manufacturing” sector generated the highest rate of increase at 195 percent by exporting $131 million in 2011 compared to 2010's $44 million. Two other firms under this bullish sector, Taiwanese firm Multi-Tek Fasteners Inc. and wig-manufacturer Aderans Philippines, Inc. also made strong export contributions. Other sectors which registered double to triple digit growth rates are services, tourism, aviation-related, electronics, tires and furniture. (WLB/PA CDC) |