CLARK International Airport Corp. (CIAC) is eyeing completion of the first phase of the National Food Hub by 2027 following the signing of a technical advisory services agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Public-Private Partnership Center on Friday.
CIAC President Arrey Perez said completion of the hub would be done in two phases given the project's extensive 62-hectare area.
"We're thinking of even expanding that because as we understand, the requirements are huge, and the need for space in this area is enormous," Perez said, adding that the project would not just be a fresh food market exchange but will also provide logistics and host food processors.
Included in the first half of the project are cold storage facilities, administrative offices and the trading market, key components that would allow retailers, hotels, cafés and restaurants to purchase supplies.
"We are targeting wholesalers here, and even exporters," Perez said.
The P8.5-billion National Food Hub Project involves the development, operations and maintenance of a wholesale food hub serving the Clark Freeport Zone, New Clark City, Metro Manila, and North, Central and Southern Luzon.
The feasibility study for the National Food Hub Project will be conducted by the ADB and could be completed by the first quarter of 2025.
Perez said the signing of agreement with ADB and the PPP Center "is a huge step in this transaction advisory phase as it ensures technical expertise in the preparation, structuring and procurement of the concessionaire for the National Food Hub Project."
As the CIAC's advisor, the ADB will provide market-facing transaction advisory services and technical assistance, including the preparation of pre-tender documents, securing approvals and assistance with the tender process, Perez added.
"With an international finance institution like the ADB, along with the PPP Center as partners, this agreement not only gives superior value to the [project] concept but also ensures that technical expertise is applied every step of the way," he continued.
Earlier this year, the Project Development and Monitoring Facility managed and administered by the PPP Center granted a $450,000 in funding to the CIAC for the project.
The PPP Center, in turn, procured the services of the ADB's Office of Markets Development and Public-Private Partnership (OMDP) following the negotiated procurement process outlined in Republic Act 9184.
The OMDP actively assists developing economies in attracting greater private investment and fostering dynamic private sector-led growth across Asia and the Pacific.
Perez said the hub would replicate the state-of-the-art agro-logistics systems of food hubs in advanced Asian countries, raise the standards of food safety and provide better opportunities for the local farmers, fishers and growers.
"The Clark hub will serve as a comprehensive central solution for the distribution, storage and processing of agricultural products which will enhance the national government's food security measures — a priority program of the Marcos administration," he added.
Perez said the ADB's feasibility study and other pre-tender documents were expected to be completed by January 2025 while tender documents will be publicly released within the first quarter of next year. The target schedule for the signing of the project concession agreement is in January 2026.
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