THE TOURISM Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) on Aug. 29 approved its own joint venture guidelines for private sector partnerships, the agency said in a statement on Friday.
TIEZA said that the guidelines COVER private sector participation in the development, operation, management, and disposition of TIEZA-owned and -controlled properties.
TIEZA Chief Operating Officer Pocholo Joselito D. Paragas said that this will help accelerate tourism infrastructure projects, provide better tourism experiences and increase revenues.
”We are confident that with the TIEZA JV guidelines, local and foreign private companies would be more interested to invest in tourism through our existing assets and our other tourism related facilities,” he said.
”We believe that the tourism sector will be reinvigorated with the contribution of industry expertise and financial capability of the private sector in managing tourism-related facilities.”
The guidelines stipulate that joint venture partners will be chosen through competitive selection, where investors respond to a solicited proposal from the agency.
They can also be chosen through a negotiated competitive challenge, whereby investors may propose a project for TIEZA-owned or controlled properties that will, in turn, be open to challenge by other parties. The guidelines note that “the party that submitted the unsolicited proposal is accorded the right to outbid any superior offer given by a comparative private sector participant.”
TIEZA will form a Joint Venture Selection Committee to select and evaluate proposals.
The guidelines will take effect immediately after publication in a newspaper on Friday. — Jenina P. Ibañez
