Correspondent

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga—The envoy of the State of Qatar to the Philippines expressed optimism over the current developments at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA), which he described as the only airport that can serve as the next premier gateway of the country.

Ambassador Abdulah Ahmed al-Mutawaa of Qatar said that his country’s Qatar Airways could invest at the Clark airport as he noted the viability of the civil-aviation complex to be a key player in the development of a megalogistics and services hub in the Asean region.

“Perhaps we can get Qatar Airways to invest here. This is for the future, you know,” al-Mutawaa said, upon seeing the 2,500-hectare airport facility during his visit to the DMIA on Monday.

If ever Qatar Airways locate in DMIA, it could tap the thousands of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who hail from Central and Northern Luzon.

Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) president and chief executive officer Victor Jose I. Luciano said OFWs from the two regions need not travel to Manila to catch their flights because the DMIA will just be at their doorsteps.

“It would be more economical and convenient for OFWs and their families to take their flights to any destinations in the Middle East from the DMIA via Qatar Airways,” said Luciano.

He added that OFWs in Luzon have long been anticipating the entry of Middle Eastern airliners at the DMIA so they may cut short their travel time.

The DMIA passenger terminal is currently undergoing a face-lift to expand its existing terminal that would increase passenger capacity to 2 million a year from the current 500,000 per year.

“It’s very good,” al-Mutawaa said, following a briefing on the ongoing development at the terminal expansion, the establishment of a $2-million in-flight catering facility, the Berthapil Logistics operations, as well as plans for further expansion.

Al-Mutawaa said he could see the further development of the DMIA in the next two years as the envoy and his delegation expressed optimism over the viability of DMIA.

“Infrastructure here is much better than in Naia,” Eihab Abdelwahab of the Qatar Embassy pointed out after a tour of the DMIA Terminal and the airport’s two 3.2-km parallel runways.

The Qatar envoy’s visit came a week after the visit of Tokyo Gov.  Shintaro Ishihara, who also expressed optimism over the developments at this free port and the Subic Freeport, a vital corridor for the development of a world-class megalogistics and services hub as envisioned by President Arroyo.

“It is very good that this [DMIA] is being developed into a premier airport and logistics hub of economic activities not only for the Philippines but for the entire Asian region,” Ishihara said through an interpreter after a brief visit to CIAC the other Sunday.

The Japanese official added that the DMIA would be the premier gateway in the Philippines due to its location.

The DMIA can accommodate large aircraft such as the Boeing 747s, Airbus 320s, 340s and 380s. In the past, it accommodated large military aircraft such as the C-17 Starlifter and the Russian-made Antonov Condor 124. 

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga—The envoy of the State of Qatar to the Philippines expressed optimism over the current developments at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA), which he described as the only airport that can serve as the next premier gateway of the country.

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—Two big-ticket power projects will be undertaken here next year to keep up with the growing power demand among business locators and to give the Subic Bay Freeport Zone a bigger chance to bid for more investments.

AGRARIAN-reform beneficiaries are forced to sell their lands back to their former landlords or other individuals or are mortgaging them to financial institutions because of lack of government support, according to a study recently conducted by the Department of Agrarian Reform and Germany’s Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ).

THREE years from now, the country is seen to capture 4-percent of the exported demand for business process outsourcing (BPO) and information technology outsourcing (ITO) services globally.

LOCAL treasurers opposed the overtures of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) for the scrapping of the tax imposed on contractors of government infrastructure projects, saying this is a legitimate levy on private business gains and not against the state interest.

TAKING cue from the Joint Congressional Power Commission (JCPC), the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (Psalm) said Wednesday it moved the bidding for the 192.5-megawatt (MW) Palinpinon Geothermal Power Plant and the 146.5-MW Panay Diesel Power Plant.

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