P1.3-T gateway project opened to partners

The Tieng family’s plan to build a P1.3-trillion airport, seaport and industrial complex off the coast of Sangley Point, Cavite—dubbed the Philippine Global Gateway project—will be opened to other conglomerates who may want to pool their financial muscle to build the massive reclamation project.

This was disclosed by William Tieng, who is vice chair of All-Asia Resources and Reclamation Corp. (ARRC), the company behind the ambitious plan.

“This is a big project, which we are doing for the development of our country,” he said, adding that other conglomerates like that of businessman Manuel Pangilinan or San Miguel Corp. were welcome to participate. “There is enough to do for many potential partners if they want to join us, like the MVP group or Ramon Ang.”

ARRC’s president and CEO Wilson Tieng said the project “started in 2012 when ARRC was established by the shareholders with a vision to build a world-class airport facility that can accommodate passenger traffic well into the year 2050 and the first integrated seaport that is accessible to the inhabitants and business enterprises located in the greater Manila area.”

The proposed plan calls for the reclamation of some 2,500 hectares of land from the sea to build a two-runway international airport with a layout similar to that of Seoul’s Incheon International Airport as its first phase. An adjacent reclamation site will house a special economic zone while a third reclamation project will be the site of an international container port for cargo ships as well as an oil depot.

“It will also provide efficient land transportation connectivity for private and public vehicles and a rail system,” Wilson Tieng said. “The special economic zone will provide a platform for industries to establish their manufacturing and processing plants that will allow them to operate in a freeport and logistics-friendly zone, thereby positioning the Philippines competitively in the forthcoming Asean integration.”

Last Saturday, ARRC signed a partnership with Belle Corp., which saw the leisure and gaming arm of the SM group of companies, which is owned by the country’s richest man, Henry Sy Sr., buy into the Tiengs’ firm to form a joint venture for an undisclosed amount.

“We definitely welcome this partnership with ARRC to mutually pursue and promote the Philippine Global Gateway project,” Belle vice chair and executive director Willy Ocier said. “This project is very timely considering the air and land traffic congestion we are experiencing every day.”

“This project will also provide the platform for increased economic activity and the engine of growth in the areas of tourism, trade and business,” he added.

The project’s proponents said it was programmed to be operational before the end of the term of President Duterte in 2022.

The ARRC group consists of local businessmen and executives, foreign firms with extensive experience in reclamation, project development and management—specifically state-owned China Communications Construction Co. (CCCC)—and supported by partners in the field of international airport and seaport construction and operations.