By Eric Garafil
(Conclusion, continued from yesterday)
Investors and tourists coming to visit the Clark Freeport Zone (CFZ) are in awe at the magnificence it has turned into.
Aside from the recently built sports complex at the adjoining future Clark City in Bamban, Tarlac that was the site of the 2019 ASEAN Games, it is now home to a modern Clark International Airport, which has been expanded to accommodate 12 million passengers yearly.
These developments are on top of the many industrial complexes, economic and cultural developments, world-class hotels, educational and medical institutions, and multinational business centers, among others that had made Clark their hub in Asia.
And in this time of pandemic, Clark is being seen as one of the prime growth areas to affect economic recovery.
In her recent pronouncement, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said rapid harnessing of the Clark-Subic service logistics corridor for jobs and investment is indispensable to national recovery as she asked the government, business movers, and shakers to turn Clark into Asia’s economic hub.
“Let us join hands with government and business movers and shakers to turn Clark into Asia’s economic powerhouse in the 2020s,” said Arroyo, who also became the first woman Speaker of the House of Representatives for the second district of Pampanga.
It was Mrs. Arroyo who paved the way for the rapid development of Clark because she built the necessary infrastructure projects necessary to spur growth in the area during her presidency.
The most prominent of these were the Clark International Airport and the SCTEx, which were built with an effort not just to connect Subic to Clark and the rest of Central Luzon but also to speed up trade, create industries and promote tourism in the area.
Mabalacat City Mayor Crisostomo Garbo affirmed the Clark Development Corp.’s statement, saying: “One of the lingering legacies of Arroyo was the SCTEX that linked the growth centers of Clark and Subic.”
Garbo, who also chairs the Metro Clark Advisory Council, said “(Arroyo’s) Kabalens are extremely happy knowing that her wisdom and compassion would complement the vision of Clark and its neighboring local government units.”
Despite the onset of COVID-19 prospects for growth at the special economic zone remained high and contributed to the country’s growth. The construction boom in the area lifted investments in the process that harnessed the rapid growth not only of Pampanga but the rest of Central Luzon.
While the worst is not yet over for the Philippine economy, which is still reeling from fresh lockdowns in NCR and some parts of the country, CFZ and the rest of Pampanga contributed at least 0.2 percent to the Philippines’ gross domestic product (GDP) last year.
This means that despite being affected, CFZ and the rest of Pampanga appeared to have weathered the ongoing crisis.
The next administration’s challenge is to recover economic growth by continuing the flagship infrastructure programs with high-yielding economic benefits, especially in Central Luzon, and concentrate on building the manufacturing sector, boosting tourism, restructuring the agriculture sector, and improving the condition of workers, among others.
And GMA’s SCTEX and the Clark International Airport will continue to be the drivers for recovery efforts post-COVID and expansion potentials of the growth corridors.