CHINESE investors are eager to partner with the country’s major port city developer, R-II Builders Inc., in Builders in Manila, Davao and Cebu that are envisioned to address congestion and provide convenience to its locators.
Delegation from the China Development Bank led by its vice governor Zhou Qingyu and China National Technical Import and Export vice president Jiang Junhua visited the Harbour Centre Port Terminal Inc. at R-10 in Manila, which is being operated by R-II Builders, for their possible investment and role in the expansion and development of the said port.
Red M. Romero III, vice chairman of R-II Builders, said that aside from the possibility of investing at the Harbour Centre Port Terminal, the Chinese group also intends to invest in their port operations in Davao and Cebu.
“Well everybody is coming in especially these Chinese groups. This is not the first time we entertained Chinese groups, this group is very aggressive compared to the other Chinese groups,” Romero said.
R-II Builders president Victor Songco said while there are local investors eying the projects, Chinese investors are showing more interest following President Rodrigo Duterte’s visit to China last October where they were part of the delegation to lure Chinese investments into the country.
R-II Builders recently signed a memorandum of agreement with the Manila City government and the Philippine Reclamation Authority for the expansion of the 50-hectare Harbour Centre Port Terminal.
The project, estimated to cost almost P7.4 billion, will add another 20 hectares with a kilometer-long berthing facility to Harbour Centre Port Terminal to enable it to accommodate the fast increasing volume and size of vessels and cargos at the port.
Part from the expansion of Harbour Centre Port Terminal, the R-II Builders is also planning to build the port terminals Consolacion International Container and Bulk Terminal in Cebu and the Davao Coastline Port and Development project in Davao City.
The terminal in Cebu would sit on an 85-hectare reclaimed land, consisting of a 1,200-meter-long berth, 1,000-meter access road, 25-hectare container yard, and a 50-hectare industrial park.
The project will help mitigate the container and bulk/breakbulk cargo traffic in Cebu City, whose port can no longer be expanded because of geographic limitations.
The Davao project lies on a 214-hectare reclaimed property.
With its proximity to East Asia countries, the Davao project will be a corridor for trade and commerce between the Philippines and the rest of the Asean Economic Community, Romero said.
“The vice governor [of China Development Bank] expressed his interest to return when we discussed with him that aside from the Manila project, we also have in Davao and Cebu. They are very much Interested to go to Davao and Cebu,” Romero revealed.
When asked if the Chinese businessmen have pledged the amount they would infuse into their company, Songco said: “As of now, no pledge has been made. But they are very much interested in financing the projects” in the three ports.”
The HCPTI told the two Chinese delegations that since its incorporation on May 14, 1996 their business has grown and from two they now service 40 vessels a month.
To cope with its growing business and challenges such as lack of berthing spaces wherein a vessel would wait as much as nine days just to unload their cargo, HCPTI needs to do more dredging to deepen the draft to allow the big break bulk ships to dock.
HCPTI’s plan is to expand their port operations and reclaim 50 hectares seaward and have additional berthing spaces to accommodate more ships, thus avoiding the possibility of another port congestion.
The project, according to Romero, is also expected to generate at least 2000 more jobs aside from shortening the waiting time of vessels to berth by half from nine days to less than five days.