PH Business Delegation Invites French Companies to Invest in Clark
Ambassador Ma. Theresa Lazaro (first from left) introduces Mr. Philippe Delaplace (second from right), Aéroports de Paris Senior Vice President for Asia, to the Philippine delegation headed by Secretary Arthur Tugade
07 April 2017, PARIS – A high-level Philippine delegation led by Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade invited French companies to invest in the development of Clark during the Clark Investment Forum held on April 03.
The Philippine delegation presented the Clark project to over fifty participants from the French public and private sectors gathered at the French Foreign Ministry in Paris.
Clark was presented as the “most dynamic growth corridor in Asia” with the planned expansion of the Clark International Airport linked to Manila through a high-speed train. It will also have access to the Subic Seaport through a cargo rail link, making Clark an ideal logistics hub for the Philippines and ASEAN region.
The new Clark project also includes the Clark Green City Food Terminal Project, and the Clark Green City, which a business, residential, innovation hub, a sports arena and government offices district. Transportation Secretary as first to move in Clark by July of this year.
Ms. Agnes Romatet-Espagne, Director for Business of the French Foreign Ministry, described the presentation as “simply stunning.” French Minister of State Harlem Desir admitted that “the Philippines had been a blind spot for French entrepreneurs for too long.”
Secretary Tugade was accompanied by senior officials from the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), the Clark Development Corporation, the Clark International Airport Corporation, Food Terminal, Inc. and the business sector.
The Delegation visited the Rungis International Market, the largest wholesale fresh food market in the world, which is being eyed by the BCDA as a model for the Clark Green City Food Terminal Project. A meeting with officials from Aéroports de Paris, which designed a master plan for the expansion of the Clark International Airport, followed afterwards.
The Forum was organized by the French Foreign Ministry as part of the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and France. END
French representatives from the public and private sectors listen to the Philippine presentation of Clark at the French Foreign Ministry in Paris
Ambassador Ma. Theresa Lazaro (second from right) delivers closing remarks at the Clark Investment Forum. With her, from left to right, are BCDA President and CEO Vivencio Dizon, BCDA Chairman Gregorio Garcia III and President and General Manager of the Clark International Airport Corporation Alexander Cauguiran.