ICTSI eyes investments in major ports

While most of its resources are concentrated on its overseas investments, the International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) said it is still considering possible investments in major ports outside Manila, specifically Davao, General Santos and Iloilo.

ICTSI said its long term prospects in domestic ports development has not been dimmed by the political upheavals, saying that the country has yet to capitalize on intra-regional trade through alternative ports in other major cities.

ICTSI president and industrialist Enrique Razon said the company has not given up on domestic ports development despite the discouraging manner that government had handled the privatization of the North Harbor.

According to Razon, ICTSI is still evaluating possibilities in Davao and General Santos and Iloilo, since the company is already operating at these ports. Tagged as the second most important port in the country, second only to the Port of Manila, General Santos Port is the most significant government asset lined up for privatization.

"We are evaluating these facilities and how we can improve our existing operations but we don’t really know how far we will go," Razon said. "We don’t want to be accused of building a monopoly."

ICTSI operates the Manila International Container Terminal and had recently been confirmed as winner of the bid for the right to develop the Subic Bay Port. When it undertook a feasibility study for North Harbor and attempted to get the project through a negotiated contract, the company got the flak from the business sector, criticizing it for its monopolistic clout of the domestic port industry.

According to Razon, ICTSI’s development efforts in ports outside MICT would be merely to support its existing operations at these ports. "Let’s see how the situation develops and until we get a more definite indication of how it will be over the long term," he said.

Meanwhile, Razon said ICTSI had begun development construction for Subic Bay, as the Japanese government approved a P6.8-billion loan out of the Special Yen Loan Package known as the Obuchi Fund, to finance the implementation of the Subic Bay Port Development Project.

The project would be a vital component of the so-called Subic-Clark Alliance, a plan that would link the facilities of the Subic Bay Freeport and the Clark Special Economic Zone and develop the zones into a global intermodal transpark.

The project would involve the construction of a new container terminal at the Cubi Point area within the Subic Bay Freeport, with a berth length of 560 meters and a berth depth of 13 meters. It would also rehabilitate the existing port facilities at the Naval Supply Depot and Boton areas, as well as construct an access road from the Boton area to the new container terminal.

The loan was part of a ¥34.723 billion Special Yen Loan Package that would bankroll a series of development projects in the country. Payumo said the Subic port project was given the largest funding among other projects applied for funding under the Japanese loan facility.

The port development project was a result of a study conducted by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) which was requested by the Philippine government to draw up a long term master plan for the Subic-Clark Alliance.