$3-B COSCO hub still in the pipeline
By Ronnel Domingo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 23:31:00 05/13/2008
The plan of Chinese giant China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co. (COSCO) for a $3-billion regional cargo hub in the Philippines is still on but the facility will “take time” to complete, a presidential adviser said.
Although the volumes of investment flow and trade remain robust, the number of big projects appears to have dwindled following the controversy around the government’s aborted national broadband network (NBN) deal with China’s ZTE Corp., said Francis Chua, presidential adviser on China trade and investments.
“COSCO is still interested, but the project would have to be given time,” Chua said in an interview. “Communication with the COSCO group remains open and meetings are being arranged as usual.”
He added that COSCO officials were supposed to meet with Philippine trade officials last month but this did not push through due to some “miscommunication on the Chinese side.”
Chua said the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in which he also holds a position, had lined up at least five business missions this year in an effort to step up trade with mainland China.
“Most of these missions would go to China, but there would also be sorties to the United States and Europe,” he said. “The focus would be on food products, especially those derived from marine resources.”
In an earlier interview, Chua said COSCO Philippine project would be delayed and the company’s top officials had decided to let a Singapore-based subsidiary handle it. He said he was working to have the project, which is crucial for both COSCO and the Philippines, started promptly.
The project was supposed to start last year. COSCO had sent a team of experts to look over prospective sites for shipping hubs at Sangley Point in Cavite City, outside Manila, and at the Subic Bay Freeport, northwest of Manila.
COSCO originally considered building a base at Sangley Point through which it could aggregate shipments from various points in the region for more efficient hauling to the United States and other destinations across the Pacific, Chua said.
However, the COSCO team saw the advantages of locating in Subic as well and did not want to pass up on either site, he added.
Chua said COSCO was prepared to foot the bill for site development, including the cost of land reclamation and port construction. Edited by INQUIRER.net
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