Levy Laus, chairman emeritus of the Pampanga Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc., at the group's 53rd quarterly general members meeting on September 8, said choosing Subic port as point of entry and exit for import and export of goods will not only help reduce costs but will also save another business critical resource time.
"Doing business in Subic is the most logical decision. It should be the primary port for businesses in North Luzon," Laus said.
According to Laus, since there is no congestion in Subic, business transactions are not delayed.
Laus noted Subic Bay port was among the few ports in the country that can meet the Bureau of Customs' goal to reduce turnaround time for cargo handling and releasing by less than five hours.
For Subic Bay International Terminal Corp. (SBITC), turnaround time for cargo handling, gate in to gate out for trucks, is less than one hour while processing of documents for cargo releasing takes about four hours.
Roberto Locsin, SBITC general manager, said the onestopshop (OSS) in Subic Bay Port reduces processing time and complexity as well as simplifies transacting in Subic for the release of cargos.
"We pulled the necessary offices in one building for faster dispensation," he said. Also, the processing time for brokers and truckers' accreditation only takes a day. "If the brokers cannot finish the accreditation in one day, the port will still release their cargo; they only need to show proof that they have started with the documentary requirements," Locsinsaid. Locsin added that brokers or truckers, once accredited, are not required to have an office in Subic to transact.
The OSS Brokers Lounge, equipped with workstations and free internet connection, may be used to complete their transactions. Locsin said the Subic Port is well equipped to handle both twenty foot containers and forty foot containers. To date, SBITC has a rated capacity of 600,000 TEUs.
As of end2015, containerized cargos that went to Subic jumped 60 percentto 123,000 TEUs from 77,000 TEUs the year before.