05 May 2016 – Mr. Arnel Casanova, President and CEO, of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), accompanied by Philippine Ambassador to France Ma. Theresa Lazaro, attended a meeting in Paris on April 29 organized at France’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development. The meeting was chaired by French Ambassador to the Philippines Thierry Mathou and Mr. Philippe Varin, Special Envoy of the French Foreign Ministry for ASEAN.

Mr. Casanova made a presentation on BCDA’s vision for the development of the Clark Green City to key representatives of French companies involved in sustainable urban development.

It can be recalled that in December 2015, BCDA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Vivapolis, a French umbrella organization of public and private French stakeholders involved in sustainable urban development. The MOU, witnessed by President Aquino during his visit to Paris to attend the COP 21 meeting, created a non-binding framework allowing BCDA and Vivapolis to explore collaborative opportunities in sustainable city planning, eco-governance, clean technology and sustainable resource management for the development of Clark Green City, the Philippines’ first sustainable city. Mr. Casanova’s visit to Paris, along with a four-member delegation, is a follow-through of this MOU.

After the meeting, the BCDA Delegation had one-on-one meetings with the French companies to explore in more detail possible avenues of collaboration. Business France confirmed during the meeting that it will be organizing a business mission to visit Clark Green City in September of this year. BCDA welcomed this plan and invited the mission. END