Superior Location
The FAB is an ideal domestic transshipment point. It is 160 kilometers from the Philippine capital of Manila and accessible by land, sea and air. Land travel from Manila to the FAB takes 2 and ½ hours, sea travel takes 55 minutes and air travel takes 25 minutes.
It is also an ideal transit point in South East Asia. It is 1300 kilometers from Brunei, 1100 kilometers from Hongkong, 2600 kilometers from Japan, 2500 kilometers from Singapore and 1200 kilometers from Taiwan.
Superior Incentives
The FAB offers an Income Tax Holiday (ITH) for a period of four years to eight years. For six (6) years from commercial operation for pioneer firms and four (4) years for non-pioneer firms, new registered firms shall be fully exempt from income taxes levied by the National Government. The income tax exemption may also be extended, subject to such guidelines as may be prescribed by its Board of Directors.
After the ITH period, the FAB offers a 5% tax in lieu of Local and National Taxes. It also provides its registered enterprises with duty-free importation of capital equipment, raw materials, consumer goods and personal items, as well as a domestic sales allowance of up to 30% of total sales. It also issues Special Visas for its expatriate investors and their families. It is also the only Freeport in the country that offers exemption from wharfage dues, export taxes, imposts and fees. Finally, it is the only Freeport where investors can actually own property instead of just leasing it.
Superior Facilities
There are a number of facilities in the Freeport and nearby areas that provide the FAB with an advantage in the development of the Freeport community.
It has 11 three-level Standard Factory Buildings (SFBs) with a total of 8,352 square meters of work area. Cleared areas and sturdy buildings within the Freeport are capable of housing at least 40 more locators.
The FAB offers electric power at an affordable cost as it buys its electricity directly from the San Miguel Energy Corporation. It also has ready infrastructure for expanded power requirements as a 600MW clean coal-fired power plant is currently being built within the Freeport and can soon provide an alternative power source once operational.
The FAB has an uninterrupted water supply courtesy of the 2.4B–gallon capacity dam within the Freeport complemented by a water treatment plant capable of delivering 14 million gallons of water everyday. Even waste water is effectively processed through its Sewerage Treatment Plant providing an eco-friendly and sustainable waste water solution not available in most Freeports.
It also has three privately-owned ports, Herma Shipyard owned by Herma Shipyard, Inc.; Rouvia Port owned by Rouvia Road Yacht Design and Construction Corporation; and Mariveles Grains Terminal owned by Mariveles Grains Terminal, Inc., all located across Manila Bay, 34 nautical miles west of Manila and accessible within one hour travel by ferry.
Superior Natural Endowments
The FAB is covered by two bodies of water, Manila Bay and South China Sea (West Philippine Sea). It has a naturally deep harbor so there is no need to dredge. From FAB, residents and visitors have access, by land or by sea, to pristine beaches along the Bataan Coast, and to inland ecotourism destinations. The Freeport also has a stunning landscape and seascape that can be harnessed for tourism and other projects that will be developed or included in the FAB’s Master Plan.
Business Facilitation Support Services
The FAB offers services to simplify the business transactions of its registered enterprises. It has an Immigration One-Stop-Shop that caters to all the immigration needs of its locators.
It also signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Department of Labor and Employment of the Philippines to facilitate coordination regarding labor concerns. The Freeport offers automatic registration to the Enhanced Automated Cargo Transfer System (E-ACTS) to all its registered enterprises for the electronic, paperless processing of import/export permits. Finally, the FAB offers an abundance of the most important resource of all, skilled labor. The local schools, colleges and universities of Mariveles and nearby municipalities of Bataan produce qualified graduates annually to cater to the employment requirements of FAB’s registered enterprises.
