GMA to lead groundbreaking of North Food Exchange today

BALAGTAS, Bulacan – President Arroyo is set to lead the groundbreaking today of the long-delayed P2-billion North Food Exchange (NFEx) here.

Former Bulacan governor Josie de la Cruz, who chairs the Southeast Asia Commodities and Food Exchange Inc. that manages the NFEx, told The STAR that the President will also lead the inauguration of a government hospital in Guiguinto town.

The President will attend a Mass this morning at the Basilica Minore in Malolos City, which is celebrating the feast of Immaculate Conception today.

De la Cruz said American principals will invest P2 billion for the land development and structures on the first six hectares of the food exchange.

Conceived in the late 1990s, the NFEx will rise on a 50-hectare land in Balagtas town along the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX).

De la Cruz said the NFEx was designed to become the processing, storage and trading center of agricultural products from provinces north of Metro Manila.

The facility was supposed to open last year, but was delayed due to the bureaucratic process in the approval of the P500-million Balagtas interchange along the NLEX.

However, things began to fall into place as Malacañang issued the initial P110 million for the construction of the interchange, while the Toll Regulatory Board issued a notice to proceed.

“The Balagtas interchange will become the point of convergence, while the NFEx is going to be the main center of commerce,” De la Cruz said.

The interchange, she added, will also serve as the gateway to other major infrastructure projects in the province such as the more than 22-kilometer East-West Connector Highway and the proposed Balagtas-Guiguinto-Plaridel-Baliuag bypass road.