BCDA taps more foreign partners for Clark Green City development

MANILA, Philippines - State-owned Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) is bringing in more foreign partners in the development of Clark Green City.

BCDA said yesterday it signed a memorandum of understanding with the Swedish government and two private firms to explore future collaborations in the development of what is envisioned to be the country’s first disaster-resilient and green metropolis.

BCDA’s new partners are IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute (IVL), a foundation jointly owned by the government of Sweden and Swedish industry, and firms ElectriCITY and Xeric AB.

BCDA said ElectriCITY is a non-profit organization composed of major companies operating in Sweden while Xeric is a firm that specializes in providing business consultancy services for small and medium enterprises.

“We welcome IVL, ElectriCITY, and Xeric  as the newest partners of the BCDA in the development of Clark Green City and look forward to a fruitful collaborative partnership through knowledge and technology transfer,  research and development, and business investments,”  BCDA president and CEO Arnel Paciano Casanova said.

In August this year, BCDA signed a cooperation agreement with the government of Japan to craft a project implementation framework which will ensure the economic, financial and commercial viability of building and operating Clark Green City.

Casanova said the agreement with the Swedish entities creates a non-binding framework for furthering discussions for potential collaborative opportunities in relation to sustainable urbanization, best practices in urban development, and providing business solution services in the development and growth of Clark Green City.

He said a technical cooperation committee would be established to facilitate the implementation of the cooperative activities.

Clark Green City is a 9,450-hectare master planned property within the Clark Special Economic Zone in the province of Tarlac.

At full development, Clark Green City will have some 1.12 million residents, 800,000 workers andcontribute a gross output of approximately P1.57 trillion per year to the national economy.

BCDA and Filinvest Land Inc. intend to break ground on the initial 288-hectare lot in Clark Green City by the first quarter of next year.