BUSINESSMAN William Gatchalian is partnering with a Macau-based company to put up a $500-million to $1-billion hotel and casino within the Bagong Nayong Pilipino Manila Bay Integrated City Project.

In an interview, Gatchalian said the joint venture plans to build the Grand Waterfront Hotel and Casino in a 5-hectare lot in Bagong Nayong Pilipino. He declined to reveal, though, the identity of its partner due to a confidentiality agreement.

The hotel will have 2,500 rooms, he said. Construction will begin in 2009 and will be completed after four years.

Gatchalian is known for his investments in the hotel sector through the Waterfront chain of hotels, mining exploration via Wellex Mining and manufacturing.

The establishment of the Bagong Nayong Pilipino is led by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor).

It will sit on a 90-hectare property in the Manila Bay reclamation area and will feature leisure and entertainment facilities, including a theme park, theaters, amusement and cultural centers, retail and gaming centers and hotels.

Pagcor aims to use the Bagong Nayong Pilipino as a catalyst to sustain the growth of the country’s tourism industry. It hopes to attract at least $8 billion in investments and generate about 200,000 jobs once the entire development is fully completed.

Earlier, listed Alliance Global Group Inc. (AGI) said it was in talks with Star Cruises Ltd. for a joint venture to develop a $1-billion integrated leisure and resort.

Star Cruises, the world’s third-largest cruise operator and an affiliate of the Malaysian conglomerate Genting Group, is interested in acquiring up to 40 percent of Travellers International Hotel Group, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of AGI.

Travellers International will be used as the vehicle to participate in the government’s ambitious plan to put up a multibillion-dollar integrated tourism zone, the country’s version of Las Vegas.

“Our proposal comes at an opportune time when there is increasing awareness of the Philippines as a tourist destination, with the country achieving a milestone in 2007 with a record three million tourist arrivals for the first time in its history,” said AGI chairman Andrew Tan.

Part of the plan is to build hotels with minimum of 1,000 rooms spread out over several phases of development.  

“Star Cruises’ interest in the project is a strong testament to foreign investment interest in the underlying attraction of the Philippines as the hub for leisure and entertainment, and a vote of confidence in the country’s economy and tourism industry,” Tan said.

The other companies which have signified interest to invest in Bagong Nayong Pilipino were Japan’s Aruze, Genting Group, Bloomberry of Australia and SM Investments Corp.

FOOD exporters asked the Philippine government to allow the duty-free importation of equipment and inputs used in agricultural production for 10 years as one way of ensuring food security and spurring local and foreign investments in the farm sector.

A LEGISLATOR urged his colleagues to speed up passage of the National Land Use Act included in the five-point action plan of Speaker Prospero Nograles to address the rising cost and limited supply of rice and achieve genuine food security.

DAVAO CITY—The construction of the P420-million Davao Port expansion project to accommodate larger export-bound ships, is expected to be finished ahead of schedule, the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) here said.

ZAMBOANGA CITY—A Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) official disclosed that recent survey conducted by the DOLE’s Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics (BLES) showed that managers, establishment, owners and top executives of private establishments in the country encountered recruitment difficulties as they searched for good experienced staff.

BUSINESSMAN William Gatchalian is partnering with a Macau-based company to put up a $500-million to $1-billion hotel and casino within the Bagong Nayong Pilipino Manila Bay Integrated City Project.

AFTER a successful stint in Davao City, management-training school Integrative Learning International (ILI) Phils. Inc. ramped up its expansion of its new business segment aimed at recruiting health workers to Brisbane, Australia.

ENVIRONMENT Secretary Lito Atienza will meet with executives of some of the world’s giant mining companies to encourage more mining investments in the Philippines during the Asia Mining Congress to be held this week in Singapore.

AN innovator of Filipino food service whose servings are wrapped in banana leaves, Binalot Fiesta Foods Inc. vows not to raise the prices of its food offerings until the end of 2008, despite the issues of rice shortage and hoarding in the country, in an effort to empathize with its customers who have become budget-conscious in their spending.