Clark IE5 reclassification seen to benefit Northern Luzon

June 18, 2019 Metro BLISTT

BAGUIO CITY – President Rodrigo Duterte on June 4, 2019 signed Executive Order No. 81, reclassifying the entire 290-hectare Clark Industrial Estate 5 (IE5) as an international center of commerce, industry, leisure, and recreation, Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC) said in a statement on Thursday, June 13, 2019.
The reclassification of the Clark Industrial Estate into a global hub of commerce and industry will hasten regional development especially in the greater Clark area, and Central and Northern Luzon, the statement said.
In the statement, CIAC president Jaime Melo said, “This is definitely a marching order in the right direction and will surely be a boon to regional development especially in the greater Clark area, and Central and Northern Luzon.”
The statement also said that the previous EO No. 716 limited CIAC to “only engage in aviation, aviation-related services and aviation-related logistic activities (at Clark IE5).”
CIAC shall now focus its efforts in aggressively expanding aviation-relation logistics businesses and other industrial and commercial ventures inside Clark, towards making Clark a globally competitive industrial and commercial hub in the Asia- Pacific Region, the statement said.
“This development will also further boost economic activities in time for the completion of Clark’s new passenger terminal building next year,” Melo added.
EO 81 amends EO No. 716 signed in 2008. The statement said that EO 81 states the Clark Special Economic Zone and the Clark Freeport Zone, including the IE5, has attracted international attention and interest as the Asia-Pacific Region’s emerging premiere hub for aviation and international logistics, as well as an international center for commerce, industry, leisure and recreation.
 
Merriam del Rosario/ABN