Competition regulator approves BCDA-MTD joint ventures to develop New Clark City

THE Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) has approved the joint venture of the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) and Malaysian developer MTD Capital Bhd., a partnership that aims to turn New Clark City into a national government center.

The regulators said its Mergers and Acquisitions Office signed off on March 13 after finding that the tie-up does not result in substantial lessening of competition.

“[ T] he creation of the joint venture will not have any substantial structural effect on the market,” it said in a Tuesday statement.

The joint venture will be responsible for the financing, design, engineering, establishment, construction, and eventually operation of the National Government Administrative Center (NGAC) in the Clark Special Economic Zone (CSEZ).

Under the proposed NGAC, the Clark military reservation will be converted for civilian use and become a hub for the national government’s backup offices. The move is expected to resolve Metro Manila’s perennial road congestion problems while ensuring the government continues to function in the event of a calamity.

The NGAC was modeled after Malaysia’s Putrajaya and Sejong City in South Korea.

MTD Capital is an investment holding company with interests

in civil engineering and construction, infrastructure development, real estate and property development, energy, ports, and the manufacture of building materials.

The parent company of Alloy MTD Philippines, MTD won the bid to construct the 220-hectare NGAC, which broke ground for the first phase in January.

The initial phase of the project will include sports facilities for use in the Southeast Asian Games in November 2019.

“The projects lined up by BCDA for Clark are also a testament to the administration’s promise of inclusive growth by increasing government spending on infrastructure, and creating jobs and opportunities outside the capital region,” BCDA said in a statement e-mailed to reporters Tuesday.

Aside from the NGAC and NCC, BCDA’s priority projects include the expansion of the Clark International Airport and the Subic- Clark railway.