Four major investors show interest in Clark

At least four major investors are interested in developing the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) in Clark, Pampanga which President Arroyo recently designated as the country’s premiere airport, officials said yesterday.

Trade and Industry Secretary Peter Favila and Alexander Cauguiran, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC), in separate interviews said two firms from Singapore and two from Kuwait have separately begun exploratory talks in developing wholly or in part the 2,200-hectare aviation complex in Clark.

Favila said Mrs. Arroyo wants the government to try to set a deadline for accepting offers for the DMIA so multi-billion peso development could start under a build-operate and transfer scheme.

“She wants a cut-off date to be set so we can start,” Favila told The STAR. The President earlier told a business forum that Singapore’s Changi Airport was interested in developing DMIA.

Cauguiran and Subic-Clark Alliance for Development chief Secretary Ed Pamintuan described the investors as “serious and financially-strong.”

Cauguiran said one of the Kuwaiti firms wanted to take up CIAC’s offer to fund its $1.2-billion masterplan for the entire aviation complex.

“This one Kuwaiti firm wants to develop alone the entire area after we gave them a presentation of CIAC master plan,” he said. He refused to identify the Kuwaiti firm upon the request of the latter but admitted that it was owned by a member of the Kuwaiti Royal Family.

He said another large Kuwaiti firm wanted to develop a portion of the DMIA as a major state-of-the-art logistics hub.

CIAC executive said one of the Singaporean firms want to put up a maintenance and repair facility for large aircraft while the other expressed interest in putting up a new terminal at the DMIA.

Under the CIAC master plan, several terminals would be put up, including the premiere terminal, concourses and several taxiways, he said.

Cauguiran said the aging Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Pasay City cannot accommodate the expanding passenger and cargo needs of various international carriers that want to make the DMIA a major, if not, the primary hub in the region.

He said the NAIA is only 800 hectares in size.

He also disclosed that some American and Chinese firms have expressed interest in the DMIA but he did not give details.