THE Bureau of Customs is planning to build world-class port facilities in Manila to be at par with other countries in the Asia-Pacific region in terms of trade facilitation, Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon said.
“Right now, we are working with some engineers and developers to come up with a conceptual framework or concept on how to build world-class port facilities, both at the Port of Manila and Manila International Container Port,” Faeldon said.
“This is around 300 hectares. This is huge. These facilities will include everything that we need.”
Faeldon said the country’s ports must have its own rendering facilities so that destroying such products as meat need not take more than a year.
He said the country has to take advantage of its geographical position—which is better than Singapore’s—since the Philippines is situated between the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean, enabling it to cater to the Asian region as well as the Pacific, including Australia.
“Singapore is a trading hub of the world as far as movement of imports and exports is concerned. It caters to the entire Asia-Pacific region. It’s their port that is really contributing the biggest to their economy. And Singapore is just a few nautical miles away from the Philippines,” he said.