The National Economic and Development Authority board approved a solicited mode for the privatization of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, effectively rendering the P267-billion unsolicited offer of the Manila International Airport Consortium “de facto closed”.
The NEDA board, chaired by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., approved the solicited proposal to rehabilitate, operate expand and transfer the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. It is now known as the Solicited NAIA PPP Project.
“Now that the solicited proposal has been approved, we are now saying it’s open for competitive bidding so the unsolicited proposal is de facto already closed,” NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said.
“Those who are planning or proposing to come in under unsolicited are encouraged, and we hope that they will participate in the solicited mode of PPP,” he said.
MIAC, whose members include six of conglomerates such as Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc., AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp., Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corp., Alliance Global-Infracorp Development Inc., Filinvest Development Corp. and JG Summit Infrastructure Holdings Corp. earlier said that its unsolicited offer would be the “fastest route” to rehabilitate and modernize NAIA.
“MIAC is one with the government on its infrastructure priorities, and is aligned with the DOTr and NEDA’s commitment to the urgent task of revitalizing NAIA given its importance as the country’s main international gateway,” the consortium said in a statement.
MIAC said it is united with the government on the mission to deliver a better NAIA for the country.
“Regardless of the route, we firmly believe that NAIA’s modernization requires a long-term and comprehensive solution delivered by a credible and capable party at the quickest possible time. These criteria – regardless of the approach – would best benefit NAIA and the Filipino people,” it said.
The Solicited NAIA PPP Project would be administered by the Department of Transportation and the Manila International Airport Authority.
The project, with a cost of P170.6 billion, aims to address longstanding issues at NAIA such as the inadequate capacity of passenger terminal buildings and restricted aircraft movement. It seeks to increase the annual airport capacity from 35 million to at least 62 million passengers.