Inauguration of Batangas Container Terminal Berth 2
Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade; Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and CEO of DP World; Mr. Eusebio Tanco, President of Asian Terminals, Inc.; Bureau of Customs Commissioner Rey Guerrero; Charito Plaza, Director-General of the Philippine Export Zone Authority; Jay Daniel Santiago, General Manager of the Philippine Ports Authority; fellow workers in government, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:
Thank you very much for inviting me to this very important event.
With the Asian Terminals Incorporated, the modernization of the Batangas Container Terminal proceeded by leaps and bounds. Asian Terminals Incorporated brings to this port the best know-how and cutting edge technologies with its partner, the DP World, that made this company a totally true global power in port operations.
With the Berth 2 inaugurated today, it enables this port facility to handle 450,000 twenty-footer containers annually, 50 percent more than the previous capacity. This is more than sufficient now to meet the needs of the rapidly growing Calabarzon manufacturing and agricultural corridor.
With this additional berth, the Batangas port complements the Port of Manila. This will spare Manila the curse of congestion experienced lately. This will provide a good alternative gateway for our rapidly expanding trade. This will service domestic routes to the southern islands as well as handle cargoes to and from the regional hubs in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, Indonesia and our other global trading partners.
This additional berth will surely have a positive impact on the growth of the economy. I prefer to look at this port project as Asian Terminals’ contribution to President Rodrigo Duterte’s ambitious Build, Build, Build infrastructure modernization program. This will make our economy more efficient, more attractive to investors, and it will help shape our economic development to be more inclusive.
As you know, the program of the Build, Build, Build is to push out business opportunities in the regional areas outside of Metro Manila, and this is precisely what this project is doing here. So congratulations Yosi and Sultan for thinking about this project and implementing it very efficiently. Please let’s give them a big hand.
With the new passenger terminal scheduled to be completed in 2021, the Batangas port will be the second major hub for maritime transport and commerce in Luzon. With this efficient facility, Calabarzon will continue to be among the country’s most progressive regions.
The simultaneous and rapid development of the Clark Zone and Batangas port will be helpful in relieving the over-concentration of commerce and administration in Metro Manila. The bustling corridor from Central Luzon to Southern Tagalog will power our nation’s progress for decades to come.
I must commend President Yosi Tanco and Asian Terminals for investing in the modernization of this trading hub. I trust that this new facility will be as efficient and as cutting-edge as the other ports in Dubai, and we know that their technology will certainly bring this port to a very high level.
This is a momentous day for the country’s progress. We will remember this day as a big step forward for our economy’s emergence.
Thank you again to the proponents of this project, ATI and DP World. We hope that this won’t be the last project you’ll have. There are many other ports to be modernized. There will be a new port in Consolacion, Cebu, there will be four ports in Mindanao, and we look forward to your participation in those areas.
Thank you very much.
-@@@-