BAGUIO, Philippines – State-owned Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) will bid out the first phase of the Clark Green City Project by the middle of this year.
During the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines-San Miguel Corp Business Journalism Seminar held in this city, BCDA president Arnel Paciano Casanova said the first phase of the project would be “offered to the market by mid of 2014.”
The project would involve transforming the Clark Special Economic Zone into a “green city” patterned after South Korea’s New Songdo business district. At the heart of the Clark Green City is a 9,450-hectare metropolis.
The project would play a major role in decongesting Metro Manila. Under the first phase, some 1,321 hectares would be developed.
The first five years of the project would cost P59 billion, and would be undertaken through the public-private partnership (PPP) scheme.
Once completed, the Clark Green City would generate approximately P1.57 trillion per year to the economy and create 925,000 jobs, Casanova said.
He said the project would be presented to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) for approval.
Earlier, BCDA signed a memorandum of understanding with Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority (IFEZA) for the transformation of Clark into a smart and green city. IFEZA operates the Songdo business district.
14 April 2014
By Darwin G. Amojelar
