Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has signed two laws to improve the business climate in Clark Special Economic Zone, 80 km north of Manila, local media reported on Tuesday.

Republic Act 9400 amending the Bases Conversion Development Act declared that 4,400 hectares under the Clark Development Corporation as a free-port zone, according to a report by Inquirer news network.

Meanwhile, Republic Act 9399 grants one-time tax amnesty to locators in special economic zones.

Levy Laus, president of the Clark Development Corporation, said the laws would grant tax and duty-free privileges to locators thereby preventing their leaving the zone.

In lieu of taxes, businesses within the free-port zone would pay a five percent tax on their gross income, Laus said.

Clark, a former U.S. air force base, was abandoned by the Americans in 1991 and converted into a special economic zone in 1993.

Source: Xinhua