PH Ambassador Quintana, UAE Business Delegation Visit Major Shipyards in Subic and Cebu, See Huge Potential in PH-UAE Ship Building Cooperation
Left photo: Philippine Ambassador to the UAE Hjayceelyn M. Quintana (3rd from left) brought the Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB) executives to three (3) biggest shipyards in the Philippines, starting with Agila Subic Multi -Use Facilities on the Redondo Peninsula in Subic Bay currently under the management of Cerberus, a U.S. private equity company. The group was welcomed by Agila Subic General Manager Mr. Mark Glenn Millan (2nd from left) who gave the group an overview of its operations and a tour of its facilities. Right photo: Next, Amb. Quintana took the ADSB business delegation to Cebu, where the group called on Mayor Ace Stefan Binghay of Balamban Municipality, considered the Philippines' ship building capital, home to global ship building companies, one of which is Tsuneishi Heavy Industry led by THI President Mr. Yasuaki Seto, (4th from left) which the group visited. (Abu Dhabi PE photo)
ABU DHABI 18 August 2022 — The Philippines and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) see huge potential for cooperation in the field of ship building, this conclusion came after a joint visit to major shipyards in the Philippines recently conducted by Philippine Ambassador to the UAE Hjayceelyn M. Quintana and top-level executives of the Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB), a major UAE defense company.
Showcased during the visit were the three (3) biggest shipyards in the Philippines, namely: the Agila Subic Multi-Use Facilities (formerly Hanjin shipyard) on the Redondo Peninsula in Subic Bay currently under the management of U.S. private equity company Cerberus; and Tsuneishi Heavy Industry and Austal Philippines, both located in West Cebu Industrial Park (WCIP) in Balamban, a municipality 52 km west of Cebu City.
In welcoming the delegation, Balamban Mayor Ace Stefan Binghay and other officials highlighted Balamban’s capabilities that made the municipality the Philippines’ ship building capital. Ambassador Quintana cited that the Philippines ranks as the world's 5th largest ship producer and the biggest in Southeast Asia. Mr. Wayne Murray, President and General Manager of Austal Philippines (a global ship builder and defence prime contractor), praised the ship building skills of the Filipino workforce, the industry infrastructure and the competitive business costs as reasons why Austal chose to locate in the Philippines.
Ambassador Quintana said that the Embassy-organized visits to Subic and Cebu on 10 and 11 August 2022, respectively, are part of the Embassy’s efforts to further expand Philippines-UAE relations as both countries mark 48th-year anniversary of diplomatic relations this year. END
Mayor Binghay also facilitated the visit of Amb. Quintana and the ADSB group to Austal Philippines (photos above) where they were welcomed by Mr. Wayne Murray, Austal Philippines President and General Manager. Both Tsuneishi Heavy Industry and Austal Philippines chose to set up their shipyard operations in Balamban City's West Cebu Industrial Park (WCIP), a 283- hectare industrial estate within the municipality. The visit to shipyards, initiated by Amb. Quintana and facilitated by the Department of Trade and Industry-Board of Investments (DTI-BOI) and the Municipality of Balamban, was aimed to highlight to potential UAE partners the desirability of the Philippines as a destination for ship building investment. (Abu Dhabi PE photo)
For more information, visit https://www.abudhabipe.dfa.gov.ph, https://www.facebook.com/PHinUAE/, https://twitter.com/PHinUAE or https://www.instagram.com/phinuae/.