Philippine US$3 billion airport project attracts 3 more potential bidders before roadshows in Singapore and Paris
- India’s GMR Group joins the San Miguel corporation and a Manila consortium bidding to upgrade the ageing Ninoy Aquino Airport, ranked among the world’s worst
- The government will seek investors through roadshows in Singapore next week and Paris in the third week of September before bidding opens formally in December
A US$3 billion project to modernise the main international airport in the Philippines has attracted three potential bidders, including India’s GMR Group, the Philippine transport secretary said on Wednesday.
Ranked among the world’s worst international gateways, the ageing Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) badly needs an upgrade to end chronic flight delays, address congestion, and improve facilities.
The other two possible bidders were conglomerate San Miguel corporation and a Manila consortium, whose US$4.9 billion unsolicited proposal for the project was rejected earlier, Secretary Jaime Bautista said.
India’s GMR group has been operating an airport on the Philippine tourism island of Cebu.
“We want somebody who has experience in operating an airport … and, of course, with a very good financial background. Those are two major requirements,” Bautista said in an interview on the sideline of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit in Indonesia.
Bautista said the government would try to find overseas investors through two roadshows, in Singapore next week and in Paris in the third week of September, before opening bidding in the last week of December, and naming a winner in January.
