Singaporean firms bullish on RE investments in PH
The dust has finally settled. All flights have returned to normal. Now the probe begins. On Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Public Order chaired by Senator Grace Poe put to task transportation authorities, along with officials of the Xiamen Airlines which ran aground paralyzing the operations of the country’s premier gateway for nearly 36 hours.
Looking back, the bedlam that was created by the Xiamen incident is unfortunate. The mayhem painted a grimimage of the country’s gateway just as when early this year Skytrax World Airport Awards recognized Ninoy Aquinio International Airport (NAIA) as one of the 10 World’s Most Improved Airports. In previous Skytrax surveys, NAIA ranked one of the worst.
The recent incident speaks volumes of the vulnerability of the country’s premier gateway. The mess highlighted the urgent need for the authorities to take stock, consider, and finally make up their minds to expand and upgrade the facilities of the airport. Building alternative gateways to meet the rise in domestic and foreign travels is inevitable.
It was indeed a wake up call, an eye-opener for the authorities to revisit and re-evaluate the proposals presented by project proponents for NAIA’s expansion and upgrading. In September last year, Philippine Airlines (PAL) offered to build an extension and expand the capacity of Centennial Terminal. The project proposal worth $400 million suffered a snag as the site is mired in a legal case.
Then, there’s the NAIA Consortium composed of Ayala, Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc., Alliance Global, JG Summit, Filinvest Development Corp., and Metro Pacific Investment Corp. and the joint-venture between Megawide and GMR Infrastructure Ltd. which submitted their respective proposals to expand, interconnect existing terminals, and upgrade airside facilities.
Diversified food conglomerate San Miguel Corporation proposed to build an entirely new gateway in Bulacan. The San Miguel unsolicited proposal to construct Bulacan International Airport worth some 1736 billion has already passed the scrutiny
SINGAPORE – Investments in the renewable energy (RE) sector – primarily solar and waste-to-energy facilities, are the sphere where many Singaporean investors have been taking a keen eye on when it comes to injecting capital in the Philippines.
The Singapore Malay Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SMCCI) has formally communicated this to the Department of Energy (DOE) in a meeting with their key officers and members.
Furqan Shamsudin, project manager of Zaffra Solar, indicated that their company as well many other SMCCI memberfirms are interested in solar investments in the Philippines.
“We are looking at rooftop, ground-mounted or any type or solar technology applications, including those with battery storage,” he said.
Shamsudin added that they set interest not just on prospective residential-anchored ventures, but more keenly on commercial and industrial rooftop installations.
Currently, he emphasized Talk back to me at sionil731@gmail.com that they are working on a solar installation at the engineering company of Singapore Airlines at the Manila airport.
“These are the kind of projects that have been very interesting to us and the rest of our Singapore-Malay business members,” he stressed.
Several other firms are also raring for prospective ventures in the waste-to-energy facilities, thus, this is one investment area that they will be exploring further in the Philippines in a targeted business-matching drive next year.
In a meeting with the chamber officials, DOE Assistant Secretary Caron Aicitel E. Lascano has apprised them of the application processes on service contracts for renewable energy projects as well as the set of incentives that relevant Philippine policies have been offering for the sector.
Renewable energy investments in the country are seen flourishing further with the targeted installations of more than 15,300 megawatts of RE capacity until 2030 in line with the government-designed Renewable Portfolio Standards.