(ADB BRIEFING. CDC president-CEO Noel F. Manankil (right) joins BCDA president-CEO Vivencio Dizon (3rd-L), CDC chair Jose “Ping” De Jesus (2nd-L), CIAC VP Darwin Cunanan (left) and other panelists from private sector partners at Clark 4D Theater and Museum. CDC-CD Photo)
CLARK FREEPORT – The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) presented the showcase of the public-private partnership (PPP) project of the Duterte administration as an off shoot to the just concluded four-day 51st annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Board of Governors hosted by the Philippines.
“On behalf of the 51st ADB host country Philippines, we are pleased to share this opportunity to feature the New Clark City (NCC), a flagship venture of the government’s “Build, Build, Build program,” the BCDA said during the presentation before the media, especially the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP), held at the Clark 4D Theater here on Monday.
BCDA president/ CEO Vivencio Dizon said the New Clark City is a model project that exemplifies the current ADB theme of “linking economies and people for inclusive development.”
The NCC is the Philippine’s first 9,450 hectare smart, green, and disaster-resilient hub located at the Clark special economic zone in Capas, Tarlac, approximately 130 kilometers away from Metro Manila which is an initiative that aims to decongest the country’s capital as a mixed-use development for agro-industrial activities, government centers and world-class facilities and companies.
Dizon along with their partners from the Japanese Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation, Budji + Royal, and Surbana Jurong presented their plans on the NCC as a new and viable investment site.
Dizon said the NCC will change the face of not just Central Luzon but that of the whole country as he acknowledged all its private sector partners in realizing the big-ticket project.
Dizon said President Xi Jinping of China and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan had mentioned the government’s Build, Build, Build program in all their bilateral opening speeches telling President Duterte in exact terms that, “we are going to support your program.”
The NCC will feature the National Government Administrative Center (NGAC) which is patterned after Putrajaya, a planned city and the federal administrative center of Malaysia.
Six government agencies, aside from the Department of Transportation (DOTr) which has already moved into Clark, will also be transferring especially those involved in disaster preparedness, management and response, Dizon said.
“It is just bringing in the government offices together. The agencies that work together, closer to one another to make sure that there is efficiency in doing business and in delivering government services,” said Patrick Nicholas David, president of Alloy MTD Philippines, a subsidiary of MTD Capital Berhad that is financing the project and providing technical and engineering expertise for the construction, operations, and maintenance of the NGAC.
“Our vision is not for us to travel around Metro Manila’s traffic just to get our business done. It’s to make sure that it is efficient, conducive and productive under the Putrajaya model,” David, who was part of the panelist of presenters, added.
Two sports facilities will also be completed in time for next year’s 2019 South East Asian (SEA) Games to be hosted by the Philippines including a 20,000-seat capacity Athletic Track as well as a 2,000-seat capacity Aquatic Center, Dizon said.
The NCC is a PPP project spearheaded by the BCDA with the Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corp. for Transport and Urban Development and Surbana Jurong of Singapore.
The NCC is touted as one of the most ambitious infrastructure developments in the country which is envisioned as the next global city based on principles of sustainability and technology.
Also present as panelists from the government sector were Clark Development Corp. (CDC) president/CEO Noel F. Manankil and Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) assistant vice president Darwin Cunanan while the private sector was represented by Widus International Leisure, Inc. president/CEO Daesik Han, Budji Royal Architecture Design CEO Architect Royal Pineda and Evan McBride, chief investment officer of Global Gateways Development Corp. among others.
The BCDA said the presentation was meant to further encourage foreign investors to explore opportunities at the future global city.
