By Leslie D. Venzon
MANILA, Jan. 28 (PNA) — The joint venture of Megawide Construction Corp. and India-based GMR Infrastructure has amended the omnibus loan and security agreement (OLSA) with a consortium of Philippine banks, to integrate the participation of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in the financing of the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA).
MCIA is the first large scale public-private partnership (PPP) project awarded by the government.
“This is an important milestone in our PPP journey; our commitment to meeting global standards is affirmed by the support of a global institution like ADB,” said Manuel Louie B. Ferrer, GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. president, in a statement to the Philippine Stock Exchange.
ADB, an international multilateral lending institution, has approved a USD75-million loan for the expansion and renovation of the Mactan airport project.
Its participation in the financing of MCIA signifies the extreme importance of the country’s first airport PPP project to the total development and progress of the country.
The other participating banks in the OLSA are BDO Unibank, Inc., Bank of the Philippine Islands, Land Bank of the Philippines, Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company, Philippine National Bank and Development Bank of the Philippines.
Ferrer believes that such investment in transport infrastructure is integral to the growth of the Philippines with more people travelling to the country annually.
GMCAC will be building a new, world class terminal while carrying out improvements on existing terminal structure.
“Improvement of MCIA infrastructure is necessary to further stimulate the domestic industry and enhance socioeconomic opportunities, and so both the Grantors and Concessionaires must ensure prompt completion of the project,” Ferrer added. (PNA)