CLARK FREEPORT — Rungis International Market of France, reputedly the world’s largest fresh market, is reported to have expressed interest to help develop the P8.5-billion, 64-hectare Clark National Food Hub project at the civil aviation complex here.
Clark International Airport Corp. president Arrey Perez said details of the mega food hub project were formally presented to trade and investment groups during the recent Market Sensing and Observation Mission held in France by a delegation of Philippine government officials and representatives of key agencies and organizations.
“CIAC’s food hub project earned their interest, which ascertains Clark’s viability for this project and its overall marketability. Hearing it from the point-of-view of the world’s best is truly encouraging,” Perez said after a meeting with officials of Semmaris, the company in charge of managing and organizing the commercial activities of Rungis.
With a surface area of 234 hectares, Rungis International Market in the south of Paris is the largest fresh market in the world and has become the symbol of French agriculture production as it supplies nearly 18 million French people with fresh products every day such as seafood and freshwater products, meat products, fruits and vegetables, dairy products and gastronomy, and finally horticulture and decoration.
The market is also the destination for greengrocers, restaurant owners, and market sellers whose numbers are estimated at more than 26,000 regular buyers, according to Semmaris.
In 2022, more than three million tons of goods reportedly passed through Rungis for a turnover of more than €10 billion ($10.8 billion), equivalent of 0.4% of the French gross domestic product.
“We’re looking forward to consummating any level of partnership with Rungis, or any form of cooperation with them in the agriculture and agrifood business for Clark,” Perez noted.
Perez earlier said the project feasibility study is expected to be completed by the end of this year by the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center and the Asian Development Bank followed by the public tender which will be conducted by the first quarter of 2025.
He added the project is targeted for award in 2025 using the PPP model of design-finance-build-operate-maintain.
“We are set on modernizing agro-logistics, raising the standards of food safety and providing better opportunities for the farmers, fishermen, and growers through the national food hub,” he added.
Perez also met with officials of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty of France through the Philippine Trade Investment Center in Paris headed by Commercial Counselor Katrina Banzon.
The CIAC chief also held a meeting with Jean Paul Torrise, president of the World Union of Wholesale Markets, and Adrien Teissonniere of EasyCube, an international logistics management company.
The Market Sensing and Observation Mission was led by the Department of Trade and Industry undersecretaries Mary Jean Pacheco of the Regional Operations Group, and Cheryl Marie Natividad-Caballero for DTI High-Value Crops, together with House of Representatives Trade and Industry Committee officials Rep. Rufus Rodriguez (Cagayan de Oro City, 2nd District), Rep. Maria Angela Garcia (Bataan, 3rd District), and Rep. Anna Victoria Veloso-Tuazon (Leyte, 3rd District), and other government representatives.
Other business meetings of the mission’s Paris leg included the Mission D’appui Au Financement des Infrastructures (FIN INFRA), a company facilitating public infrastructure projects financing, and the Le Pôle Agriculture et Agroalimentaire or MEDEF International, an international trade and development entity serving developing countries.
Along with Perez, the CIAC Market Sensing Team is composed of CIAC directors Dante Ang II and Monico Puentevella Jr., chief strategy officer and urban planner Melissa Feliciano, and her deputy Katz Dizon. CIAC-PAD
