Existing industrial estates can help translate corridor infrastructure into investment, jobs and industrial growth today
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. receives a briefing on LIMA Estate’s three-decade evolution and future growth plans during his recent visit to the 1,100-hectare economic estate in Lipa-Malvar, Batangas.
LIPA-MALVAR, BATANGAS, Philippines — As the Philippines advances the Luzon Economic Corridor, Aboitiz Economic Estates believes its success will depend not only on stronger connectivity between Subic, Clark, Metro Manila and Batangas, but also on activating industrial capacity across the corridor that can accommodate investment today.
Existing economic estates can play an immediate role by providing shovel-ready land, utilities, infrastructure, talent and established operating environments, while longer-term industrial nodes continue to develop.
Aboitiz Economic Estates sees the Luzon Economic Corridor as a connected industrial system extending from Subic and Clark through Metro Manila to Batangas. Within this broader network, LIMA Estate in Batangas and TARI Estate in Tarlac provide complementary platforms: LIMA Estate as a mature industrial ecosystem operating at scale, and TARI Estate as new investment-ready capacity serving Central Luzon.
“The Luzon Economic Corridor has the potential to function as more than a series of infrastructure projects or individual development nodes. It can become a connected industrial system from Subic to Batangas,” said Rafael Fernandez de Mesa, President and CEO of Aboitiz Economic Estates. “The private sector can help accelerate that vision by putting existing, investment-ready capacity to work today while partnering with the government to build the next generation of industrial platforms.”
LIMA Estate: An industrial ecosystem already operating at scale
LIMA Estate provides a working example of how long-term infrastructure and industrial development can translate into investment, employment and sustained economic activity.
Originally developed as an industrial park in the late 1990s and fully acquired by Aboitiz in 2014, LIMA Estate has grown from approximately 384 hectares to around 1,100 hectares today, with a longer-term pathway toward approximately 1,600 hectares.
The estate is now home to more than 200 companies, supports approximately 75,000 jobs and has attracted more than ₱128.9 billion in cumulative investment.
LIMA Estate in Batangas provides an operating example of how sustained industrial development can grow into a broader economic platform, with manufacturing supported by infrastructure, talent, services and continued expansion.
Manufacturing remains LIMA Estate’s economic anchor, spanning electronics, automotive components, precision manufacturing, consumer products and other industries. Around this industrial base, Aboitiz Economic Estates has progressively developed the infrastructure and services required by long-term investors, including power, water and wastewater systems, roads, digital connectivity, transport, estate services and talent development.
LIMA Estate has also expanded into offices, retail, hospitality, housing, education and higher-value services, creating a more complete operating environment around its growing industrial workforce.
Talent as part of industrial readiness
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. reinforced the importance of talent development during his recent visit to LIMA Estate, where he called for closer alignment between education, training and the needs of industry.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. visits the Batangas State University-LIMA Campus, where engineering education and technical skills development are being brought closer to industry.
At LIMA Estate, the Batangas State University-LIMA Campus is one example of this approach, bringing engineering and technical education closer to an operating industrial environment. LIMA Estate locators also participate through an Industry Advisory Council that helps align academic programs with evolving industry requirements.
“The President’s message reinforces something we have learned through experience: industrial capacity and workforce capability have to be built together,” Fernandez de Mesa said. “If we want to attract more technology-intensive industries, we have to prepare both the physical and human infrastructure ahead of demand.”
Aboitiz Economic Estates’ broader talent strategy includes curriculum alignment, workplace exposure, recruitment support, skills matching and continuous upskilling, with the goal of helping companies access the capabilities they need as their operations evolve.
TARI Estate: New investment-ready capacity in Central Luzon
LIMA Estate demonstrates a mature industrial ecosystem already operating at scale in Southern Luzon, while TARI Estate is being developed as a new investment platform in Central Luzon.
The 384-hectare TARI Estate in Tarlac is positioned to support manufacturing and other strategic industries, with connectivity to Clark, Subic and Luzon’s major expressway network.
Its initial development areas have already attracted anchor investments from Ajinomoto Philippines and Coca-Cola Europacific Aboitiz Philippines.
TARI Estate is being developed with many of the lessons established at LIMA Estate, including the early provision of industrial infrastructure, utilities, estate services and investor support. This allows companies evaluating new investments in Central Luzon to access a private-sector platform designed for long-term industrial growth.
Activating the corridor today while building for the future
Aboitiz Economic Estates believes the Luzon Economic Corridor will be strongest when major public infrastructure investments are reinforced by private-sector investment and industrial development across the wider corridor.
Private economic estates can provide ready sites, utilities, infrastructure, talent systems and estate management, while the companies locating within them generate the investment, employment and economic activity that ultimately give the corridor scale.
Through the wider Aboitiz platform, Aboitiz Economic Estates can also draw on capabilities spanning energy, water and infrastructure, construction, financial services, digital technology, real estate and workforce development.
This creates a broader opportunity for government and the private sector to work together, activating existing industrial capacity today while developing the next generation of economic and industrial nodes along the corridor.
As the Philippines seeks to attract greater investment in semiconductors, electronics, advanced manufacturing, AI and other strategic industries, Aboitiz Economic Estates sees the opportunity as both immediate and long term.
The priority is to put investment-ready capacity to work now, while continuing to build the infrastructure, talent and industrial platforms that will support the Luzon Economic Corridor’s next phase of growth.
About Aboitiz Economic Estates
Aboitiz Economic Estates is the Philippines’ leading developer and operator of smart and sustainable industrial-anchored townships, with a 2,000-hectare footprint, 260 industrial locators, and 100,000 jobs generated across Southern Luzon and Central Visayas, with ongoing strategic expansions into Central Luzon.
Aboitiz Economic Estates’ portfolio includes the 1100-hectare LIMA Estate in Lipa-Malvar, Batangas; the 63-hectare Mactan Economic Zone 2 Estate in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu; the 540-hectare West Cebu Estate in Balamban, Cebu; and the 384-hectare TARI Estate in Tarlac City, Tarlac.
The multi-awarded Economic Estates are well-supported by a comprehensive ecosystem of infrastructure facilities and services, managed by Aboitiz businesses, including Aboitiz Land, Aboitiz InfraCapital, AboitizPower, Aboitiz Construction, and UnionBank of the Philippines.
For further queries on this press release, please contact:
Farrah Niña Mayol
farrah.mayol@aboitiz.com | 0917 8237665
Senior Asst. Vice President – Corporate Communications, Branding and Sustainability
Aboitiz Economic Estates and Aboitiz Land
