12 December 2013, Manila Bulletin

by Kris Bayos

 

All seven bidders vying for the P17.5-billion Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) Development Project are offering to pay government hefty premium payments aside from investing in the costly construction of a new passenger terminal building.

The technical proposals of the seven bidders have passed the stringent evaluation of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) Bids and Awards Committee (BAC). This led to the opening of their financial proposals yesterday.

Of the seven bidders, the GMR-Megawide Consortium offered the best premium bid at P14.4 billion while Filinvest-CAI Consortium placed second with P13.99 billion.

Meanwhile, Premier Airport Group bided at P12.5 billion, MPIC-JGS Airport Consortium at P11.23 billion, AAA Consortium at P11.09 billion, San Miguel-Incheon Airport Consortium at P9.05 billion, and First Philippine Airport Company at P4.7 billion.

By offering premium bids, the bidders are offering to pay government up front cash on top of the multi-billion investment they will make to construct a new-world class passenger terminal building at the MCIA complex with a capacity of 8 million passengers per year.

“(The turn out of the opening of the financial bids) only goes to show that bidders have faith in the process, in the government, in the agency and in the project. This is the reason why they are willing to put in that much money,” DOTC BAC chairman Undersecretary Jose Perpetuo Lotilla said.

Lotilla added that the MCIA project has gained the biggest premium bid so far from all infrastructure projects being bided out through the public-private partnership (PPP) scheme. Earlier, bidders vying for the P1.72-billion Automated Fare Collection System and the NAIA Expressway project also offered premium bids to the government.

“All in all, government is getting much more upfront cash from all of these projects,” he added.

But Lotilla clarified that the bidding is not yet over and the bidder with the best bid is not yet declared the winner. He said the DOTC BAC still needs at least 26 days to evaluate the financial proposals before issuing the notice of awards.

Based on the DoTC BAC’s timeline, the notice of award will be issued ideally on January 6 and the deadline for the submission of post-award requirements is on January 27. Finally, the signing of concession agreement is scheduled on February 6.

The P17.5-billion project involves the construction of a new world-class international passenger terminal building in MCIA, with a capacity of about 8 million passengers per year; renovation and expansion of the existing terminal; installation of all the required equipment; and the operation of both new and existing facilities.

When the new international terminal building is completed, the existing terminal, which currently caters to both domestic and international passengers, will be converted into an exclusively-domestic passenger terminal for the concession period.

Firms vying for the project include Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC)-JG Summit Holdings Inc. Airport Consortium; AAA Airport Partners; Filivest Land Inc.-Changi Airports International (CAI) Consortium; San Miguel Corp. (SMC) and Incheon Airport Consortium; First Philippine Airports Consortium; Premier Airport Group; and GMR Infrastructure Limited-Megawide Consortium.

The operator of the Aéroports de Lyon in France has teamed up with MPIC-JGS Airport Holdings Inc., ADLMS MCIA, Manila North Tollways Corp., Leighton Contractors Philippines Inc., Bouygues Batiment International, Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co. Ltd., Egis Avia, Pascal + Watson Limited, Advance Logistics Group SAU, Priontec SA, Ove Arup and Partners Hong Kong Ltd., Integrated Design Associates Limited, DP Architects Pte. Ltd., and Woodhead Pte. Ltd. to form the MPIC-JGS Airport Consortium.

The operator of three airports in Houston, Texas, Houston Airports System, has joined the AAA Airport Partners together with A2 Airport Partners, ADC & HAS Worldwide Inc., Hedcor Sibulan Inc., Therma South Inc., AP Renewables Inc., Daewoo E&C Company Ltd., Makati Development Corp., Obrascon Huarte Lain SA, Bouygues Batiment International, Ineco Ingeneria y Economia del Transporte SA, Paymacotas SAU, Ove Arup & Partners Hong Kong Ltd., Ove Arup & Partners International Ltd., Integrated Design Associates Ltd., DP Architects Pte Ltd., CH2M Hill International Ltd., Corgan Associates Inc., and Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc.

The operator of Changi Airport Saudi Ltd. and Changi Airport Mena Pte. Ltd in Singapore, Changi Airports International (CAI), has teamed up with Filinvest Development Corp., Filinvest Land Inc., Filinvest Alabang Inc., Cyberzone Properties Inc., EEI Corp., Bouygues Batiment International, CPG Consultants Pte. Ltd., Woods Bagot Pty. Ltd., and Meinhardt Philippines Inc. to form the Filivest-CAI Consortium.

The operator of Incheon International Airport in South Korea, Incheon International Airport Corp., is the lead member of the SMC-Incheon Airport Consortium. Other members are Optimal Infrastructure Development Inc., Mactan Capitana Holdings Inc., Skylake Incuvest & Co., Kumho Industrial Co. Ltd., Keun Jong Architects and Engineers Co. Ltd., Aecom Company Ltd. and San Miguel Corp.

The operator of Wellington International Airport in New Zealand, Wellington International Airport Limited, has partnered with First Philippine Holdings Corp., Infratil Asia Limited, Rockwell Land Inc., Fentress Architects, Buro Happold Consulting Engineers, Ove Arup & Partners Hong Kong Ltd., and First Balfour Inc. to form the First Philippine Airports Consortium.

The operator of Zurich Airport in Switzerland, Flughafen Zurich AG, joined the Premier Airport Group together with SM Investments Corp., SM Prime Holdings, Inc. Citadel Holdings Inc., Prospector Investment Holdings Inc., and DM Consunji Inc.

The operators of Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd., and Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd., in India have teamed up with Megawide Construction Corp., GMR Infrastructure Ltd., GMR Airports Developers Ltd., BL Kashyap & Sons Ltd., Vijay Nirman Company (P) Ltd., Ove Arup & Partners Inc., Louis Berger Group Inc., Foster + Partners, and Mott Macdonald. They form the GMR Infrastructure and Megawide Consortium.