Clark Green City To Be Offered To Investors – BCDA

Posted on June 16, 2014

The state-owned Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) said it will start tendering 1,300 hectares out of the 9,450 hectares of the Clark Green City by the third quarter of this year to international and local investors.

“We are now preparing the Terms of Reference (TOR) and once finalized, we hope to start the process for the first phase by the third quarter,” BCDA President and CEO Arnel Paciano D. Casanova said.

This came on the heels of President Benigno S. Aquino’s approval of the master development plan and the development of the first phase during the NEDA Board meeting held last Thursday (29 May 2014).

Casanova said the BCDA is eyeing real estate developers, industrial park builders, township builders, and institutional developers among the investors for the first phase of Clark Green City. He added that the 1,300 hectares will be divided into several lots/packages.

He said Clark Green City is an opportunity for a 100 percent foreign-owned company to invest in urban development in the Philippines since the entire area is a special economic zone.

Casanova added that international firms investing in Clark Green City will further accelerate Foreign Direct Investments.

He said some P59 billion is estimated to be the cost for the development of the first phase that will be shouldered mainly by international and local private sector proponents.

“We have been given the green light to plant the seeds of growth and development for the future generation. This is the first time the Philippines is building a new city from the ground up. Clark Green City will serve as the urban core of the Central Luzon metropolis,” Casanova said.

He pointed out that Clark Green City will play a crucial role in increasing the country’s competitiveness, especially when the economic integration of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is implemented.

“It will open up the region to global trade and investments owing to the world-class infrastructure that is already within reach like the Clark International Airport, the Subic Bay Seaport and the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX),” he said.

According to him Clark Green City will be the country’s first green and smart metropolis. “It will change for the better the way Filipinos live, the way Filipinos do business, and the even the way Filipinos spend their leisure time,” he said.

Casanova said the plan for the first phase is to bring in the critical mass by locating institutions such as schools, government offices and hospitals. The University of the Philippines is Clark Green City’s first locator.

He said Clark Green City will be built to be disaster-resilient taking into consideration the ill-effects of climate change. Just recently, the World Bank expressed its support to the project and will assist the BCDA in the area of innovation and sustainable green development.

Casanova noted that Clark Green City will be a catalyst in creating a new breed of modern Filipinos. The new metropolis will serve as portal to the world community and will empower the country’s next generation to be global citizens.

“We shall be seeing a new breed of Filipinos who will engage daily, through their work, with other citizens of the global community,” he said.

He added that it is time for the Filipinos to dream big and make Clark Green City part of their dream.

The Clark Green City will promote inclusive growth and global competitiveness in the agricultural sector. “The city and its resources will empower all types of people including farmers who will be equipped with much better knowledge and facilities to produce better crops and earn higher incomes using the expressways, Clark International Airport
and the Subic Seaport to transport their goods both locally and internationally,” Casanova explained.

He added that Clark Green City will also ensure sufficient and better quality of food within and beyond through its agri-forestry research and development district.

Based on the Clark Green City District Plan the new city will have five districts namely: the government district; central business district; academic district, agri-forestry research and development district; and the wellness and eco-tourism district.

At full development, Clark Green City would contribute approximately Php1.57 trillion per year to the economy of the country and will generate 925,000 jobs.

The BCDA has extensive experience in building a city. It is coming from the success of developing the Bonifacio Global City, the country’s most beautifully planned and developed city using the best practices around the world.