Japan’s Orix shows interest in NAIA-3, Mactan airport

The Orix Group of Japan has expressed its interest in the development of the controversial passenger terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and the Mactan International Airport.

Officials disclosed yesterday that during last week’s roadshow in Tokyo, the Orix Group said they were keenly interested in the two airports although no detail of possible investments were discussed in the initial meeting.

Trade and Industry Secretary Peter Favila told reporters that the exploratory discussions did not go into specific details of how Orix intends to participate in the development of the country’s two busiest airports.

"It was a good meeting for us and there is renewed enthusiasm among Japanese investors because the Japanese economy is picking up," Favilla said.

According to Favila, Orix was formally invited to send an exploratory team to the country as soon as possible to explore the specifics of possible investments.

Favila said the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) expected strong investments inflow from Japan this year and trade was also expected to pick up as the Japanese economy gathers momentum.

The Orix Group is no longer new to the Philippines. It’s most significant venture in the country is the joint-venture between the Orix Group and the Metrobank Group to form Orix Metro Leasing and Finance Corp. (OrixMetro) which has a broad clientele of the country’s top corporations through financing facilities and leasing services for transportation equipment, office equipment, industrial machinery, and manufacturing machinery among others.

In Japan, Orix is one of the leading integrated financial services groups with operations in 24 countries and regions worldwide. Its global operations include leasing, corporate and consumer finance, real estate-related finance and development, life insurance, and investment banking.

NAIA 3, however, is still closed to all traffic although airport officials earlier said they expected to be able to open the facility by July this year.

Earlier, the Supreme Court ordered the government to pay the Philippine International Air Terminals Co. P3.002 billion for the use of NAIA 3.

Despite the legal tangle involving two Japanese contractors of NAIA 3, Favila said Orix did not seem discouraged and was, in fact, interested enough to explore the possibility with Philippine officials.

Japanese contractors Takenaka and Asahikosan won their case in an English court last year, demanding PIATCO to pay them $82 million for services rendered to the consortium as builder and supplier for the building of the airport terminal.

On the other hand, NAIA officials admitted that Terminal 3 was deteriorating because the equipment inside it were not being used and were being damaged by humidity and moisture.

NAIA-3 was designed to handle 13 million passengers yearly and originally scheduled to open in 2002. Airport service operators said they were "ready, willing and able" to work as soon as the government takes over its operations from PIATCO.