A consortium of local and foreign companies on Monday signed the joint venture and development agreement with the provincial government of Cavite for the $11-billion Sangley Point International Airport Project after the former posted a substantial performance bond.
“The performance bond of $5-billion has been submitted,” Cavite Governor Juanito Victor Remulla said in a Viber message.
A performance bond aims to guarantee the completion of the project. It is a pre-condition to the signing of the joint venture and development agreement between the Cavite provincial government and SPIA Development Corp., which is composed of Cavitex Holdings, Yuchengco Group, MacroAsia Corp. and their foreign partners.
Remulla said the next step is the financial closure for the project.
Under the project’s framework, the Cavite government and the consortium will have 18 months from the signing of the joint venture agreement to finalize the project’s design and business plan and reach financial closing, which would start the new airport’s full-scale construction.
Phase 1 of SPIA, which includes the first of four runways, is expected to be operational by 2028. The Phase 2 expansion will result in a two-runway system with airport facilities capable of handling at least 75 million passengers per annum.
Cavitex Holdings, the Philippine lead, would bring its expertise in infrastructure development, while the Yuchengco Group of Companies, through House of Investments, would contribute its expertise and financial resources in developing large-scale projects.
MacroAsia would lend its expertise with aviation support in logistics and technical services for aviation support.
Munich Airport International GmbH, the operator of the five-star rated Munich Airport, will serve as technical consultant for airport concept of operations and maintenance including route development, while Ove Arup & Partners Hong Kong Limited, known for its prized work in airport design and engineering, will be the lead master development planner.
SPIA Development Corp. and its foreign partners, committed to transforming Sangley Point International Airport into a fully-modernized, world-class and green airport.
The consortium said the project would revitalize not only the tourism industry, which is a major pillar of the country’s economic recovery and growth and development agenda, but also the overall business environment.
The project includes the construction of a four-kilometer connector road, with provisions for rail connectivity, fully-integrated logistics and aviation support facilities. With the development of the first runway, SPIA can operate as a satellite runway to immediately relieve the extreme congestion of the runway at NAIA.
It is expected to create 50,000 jobs and be a catalyst project to bring in foreign direct investments that will promote trade and economic development, the group said.
The Cavite government in January 2021 scrapped the deal with China Communications Construction Co. and MacroAsia to build and operate the Sangley International Airport because of deficiencies in documentations.
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