Arroyo to break ground on $1.25b logistics park in Clark

MANILA, Philippines - President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will lead the groundbreaking of a new $1.25-billion logistics park in Clark Freeport Zone on Monday, Malacañang said Saturday night. A Palace statement said President Arroyo will be the guest of honor at ceremonies marking the start of construction of the Global Gateway Logistics City (GGLC). It said President Arroyo will also ceremonially lay down the time capsule at a predetermined area within the venue to formally start the construction of the GGLC. Last April 4, the President witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between Kuwait Gulf and Link (KGL) Investment Company and the Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC). The MOA called for the establishment of a Logistics Park in the world-class Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) Civil Aviation Complex. It specified the development of a large mixed-use aviation oriented logistics complex on a 167-hectare area within the former US military base here. Development of the GGLC project entails two stages. The first stage, which will cost $25 million, will build roads and install street lights, fencing, landscaping, sidewalk, utilities and access points. The second stage, which will cost $1 billion, will see the development over a period of seven years of the main facilities and buildings. Once completed, the GGLC will provide logistics-dependent businesses with warehousing, distribution, multi-nodal logistics, and light manufacturing services alongside complementary business operations and facilities to support aviation-related activities within the DMIA's Civil Aviation Complex. It is expected to generate some 35,000 new jobs and spur economic progress in the province and outlying regions by providing other sources of livelihood to its citizens. - GMANews.TV