BY ALBERT CASTRO [ Malaya.com.ph ] November 9, 2011
TAIPAN Andrew Tan may participate in the government’s plan to privatize the 440-hectare Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) should the sale push through.
Speaking at the sidelines of the Global-Estate Resources Inc. (Global Estate) stockholders’ meeting yesterday, Tan said his group "will be interested as long as it is related to tourism."
"As long as it will boost our tourism business, we will be interested," Tan said.
Transportation Secretary Mar Roxas earlier announced that the sale is part of a study to transfer the Philippines’ main air transport hub to the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport at Clark in Pampanga, as NAIA reaches its saturation point.
Roxas said the airport located in Manila, just in front of Tan’s Newport City project in Parañaque, is estimated to fetch $2.5 billion should it be sold.
A flagship tourism business of Tan’s Alliance Global, Inc. and Megaworld Corp., the project banners the joint venture business – Resorts World Manila – of Tan and the Malaysian group Genting Malaysia Berhad.
The partnership is also involved in developing the government’s multibillion-dollar Pagcor City in Pasay City.
Shareholders of Global Estate, meanwhile, approved the increase in its capitalization yesterday in preparation for the anticipated funding requirement that the company’s projects will entail.
Alain Sebastian, assistant vice president of Global Estate, said plans to use the newly created shares are still on the drawing board.
Global Estate now has a total of 20 billion shares divided at P1 per share. Shareholders’ equity stands at P14.09 billion, including additional paid-in capital.
Early on, Global Estate announced that it will busy itself with Boracay New Coast on Boracay Island off Aklan province’s mainland, and Twin Lakes near Metro Tagaytay.
At an estimated development cost of P15 billion for Boracay New Coast and P5 billion for Twin Lakes, Global Estate is expected to spend P20 billion in total. Both projects will feature an integrated, master-planned layout and world class resort offerings and amenities.
Global Estate said it is positioning Boracay Newcoast as a "catalyst" for the area’s tourism growth, with the project eyed "to redefine the leisure and holiday experience of visitors in the area and help attract 350,000 more tourists each year."
Boracay Newcoast encompasses 14 percent of Boracay and boasts of a kilometer-long white beach, the first and only golf course on the island, and an entertainment center being positioned as the new nightlife hub of Boracay.
Four "world-class hotels" with a total of 1,500 rooms are planned to be built in Boracay Newcoast, tapping three international brands plus Alliance Global’s own to manage the hotels.
The company, however, has yet to start development, though Sebastian said there is an intention to "complete it in five years time" in the current plan.
The 1,149-hectare community project Twin Lakes, meanwhile, is being positioned as a medical and educational tourism destination.
_____________________________________________________________
