Singapore To Invest $400m Into Cebu Shipbuilding Sector

Cebu's shipbuilding industry has attracted two Singaporean firms which are planning to invest about $400 million in the fast-growing industry, a Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) official said. Marina Administrator Vicente Suazo said he will facilitate the meetings between the Singaporean investors and the National Maritime Leasing Corp. (NMLC) and the Philippine Import-Export Credit Agency (Philexim).

Suazo declined to name the two Singaporean firms, but said one firm, will invest $300m and the other $100m. He said he recently went to Singapore to conduct a campaign to attract foreign investments in the country's shipping industry. He said the campaign is in line with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's directive, as provided under Executive Order 588, to invite foreign investments to modernize the industry, and eradicate second-hand and dilapidated vessels plying various routes in the country. He said dilapidated vessels endanger the lives of the passengers. The shipping and repair industries in Cebu are dominated by Keppel Cebu Shipyard and Engineering Works Inc., a Singaporean company; and Tsuneishi Heavy Industries, a Filipino-Japanese joint venture. Source: PNA