BCDA: Japan to help transform Clark Green City

The government of Japan is investing in the 9,450-hectare Clark Green City to help transform the rising metropolis into a major economic center in the Asean region, the state-run Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) said Thursday.

In a statement, BCDA said it has signed a cooperation agreement with the Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corp. for Transport and Urban Development (JOIN) to look into the possible establishment of joint venture companies that will separately conduct a feasibility study and grant concession rights to various individual projects that will soon make up the Clark Green City project.

BCDA president and chief executive Arnel Paciano D. Casanova signed in behalf of the Philippines. JOIN, a Japanese government corporation created by the Japanese Parliament, was represented by president and CEO Takuma Hatano.

The BCDA and JOIN will collaborate on a Project Implementation Framework that will ensure the economic, financial and commercial viability of building and operating the government project.

Upon signing the agreement, both parties will start to work on the details of the joint venture companies, including but not limited to its scope of work, function, funding source, authority, responsibility and procedures, and discuss with private sector companies in both the Philippines and Japan with regard to their interest in Clark Green City.

Casanova said the involvement of JOIN is expected to lead to multiple joint-venture partnerships that could potentially serve as a vehicle for the formation of Japanese consortium and investments in the field of power, transportation, toll ways, industrial zones and economic centers.

He further noted that the involvement of JOIN in the planning stage of the Project Implementation Framework would allow BCDA to identify and attract the right Japanese private investors for Clark Green City.

“The goal is to create a viable Project Implementation Framework through exchanging information, research, discussions with private companies and both the governments of the Philippines and Japan, and through conducting market and feasibility studies, among others,” Casanova said.

He said BCDA and JOIN may separately make decisions for investment on each of the  individual components that make up  the Clark Green City project.

“In the case of JOIN, it may make a decision in accordance with the investment   decision made by private companies in Japan in partnership with Filipino companies. This will also benefit Filipino companies through transfer of technology,” Casanova said.

JOIN is a Japanese government corporation that aims to invest and participate in transport or urban development projects, involving Japanese companies, such as bullet trains, airports, and green cities.  Its target investment worldwide is Y30 trillion by 2020.