|
Cosco selects Philippine site for transhipment hub
POSTED: 9:11 a.m. EDT, July 23,2007
China Ocean Shipping Company (Cosco) is believed to have selected Sangley Point in Cavite City, Philippines, for the set-up of a transhipment hub.
Philippines Trade Secretary Peter Favila said Cosco would US$4 billion to $5 billion to turn the former US naval base located at the northernmost tip of Cavite City Peninsula into its Asian hub.
The announcement follows the signing of a bill by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo billion to convert Sangley Point into an international logistics hub with a modern seaport and airport.
"Cosco has already done its homework by going around the country to scout for possible locations for the hub and has decided to take on Sangley Point," Favila said. Cosco chief executive office Wei Jiafu will arrive in the Philippines next week, he added. A Cosco team led by Wei visited the country last month to check out the various sites.
The president has directed the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) to develop the Sangley Point into an international logistic hub with a container port and airport complex and an economic processing zone with cyberparks through a private sector joint venture under a build-operate-transfer scheme.
Cosco will reclaim 4,000 hectares around Sangley Point because the Cosco project is not supposed to displace the Philippine Navy, which is headquartered in Sangley Point, and uses the base for ship repair, said Favila.
Sangley has a military airport which has a concrete runway of 229 x 22m, and road links which provide access to Manila and the Calabarzon (Calamba, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) growth corridors.
During the visit last month after meeting with the president, Cosco's Wei said: "I believe we need to find an area where the transhipment would be reasonable, convenient and efficient. We are now in the process of re-identifying this area.
"We want to look into the terminal, logistics, shipbuilding and repair and maintenance facilities." |
|
RELATED