The World Bank has expressed interest in supporting the development of the 177-hectare Sabah Al-Ahmad Global Gateway Logistics City (GGLC) in Clark Freeport Zone, a project backed by KGL Investment Co. (KGLI) led by Kuwaiti investors.
The GGLC, a major development project that will cost a total of $3 billion, will create over 300,000 jobs and generate annual payroll of $600 million, once completed.
World Bank Executive Director for the Middle East Hasan Mirza expressed World Bank’s interest in the project during a recent visit to the GGLC.
Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co. Chairman Saeed Dashti said Global Gateway Development Corp. (GGDC), owner of GGLC, is attracting immense attention from international investors, including the World Bank and its private-sector arm, the International Finance Corp. (IFC).
Mirza said KGLI’s projects in the Philippines, such as the Global Gateway Logistics City and its investment in transport and logistics company 2GO Group are the kind of projects that boost the economy and provide for the development of decent life for the people, which are the World Bank’s.
“Those are two promising and important projects for the Philippines,” Mirza said.
He added that negotiation process to invest in GGDC began a year and a half ago, and that only minimal details were left for finalization. He said the World Bank is interested in such projects, which have significant financial, economic and social yield and are in line with the World Bank’s strategy.
Meanwhile, Dashti said the 2GO Group, which KGLI invested into, is the leading player in the Philippines’s sea-transport industry, with a dominant market share, in addition to being the country’s largest provider of door-to-door logistics services.
Kuwait Ambassador to the Philippines Waleed Al-Kandari said KGLI’s projects provide job opportunities in the country. “I had the honor to represent His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah in 2012 inauguration of Sabah Al-Ahmad Global Gateway Logistics City in Clark, which is considered one of the largest investment projects in the Philippines.”
“His Highness, the Amir’s visit to the Philippines in 2012 strengthened the bonds of cooperation between the two countries and resulted in fruitful and beneficial cooperation in the fields of business, politics, trade, and investment, among others,” Al-Kandari said.
Al-Kandari said the Philippines is one of the most promising emerging markets in Southeast Asia, and that several Kuwaiti companies have acquired interests from a group of Filipino companies working in different fields, including exploration sector, particularly in the southwest of the Philippines in the Pacific Ocean, the export of oil to the Philippines, and agriculture in the south of the country, among other important sectors.
Foreign Secretary Albert F. del Rosario, during a luncheon hosted in honor of Mirza, said the Philippine government will continue to exert all possible efforts to provide a positive atmosphere for investors in Sabah Al-Ahmad GGLC, and other future projects.
Del Rosario cited the importance of foreign investment in the country and expressed his deep appreciation for the Kuwaiti government’s investments, as well as the support extended by the World Bank and the IFC.
In July 2008 GGDC signed a lease agreement with Clark International Airport Corp. for 50 years with the possibility to extend for another 25 years, to develop a multipurpose logistics and aviation city on 177 hectares of property.
In 2009 the Philippine government approved the master plan of the global logistics city, signaling the start of the construction. GGDC has, so far, invested $100 million in the vertical and horizontal development of the logistics city, which attracted renowned logistics corporations and partners to the site.