project

Five potential bidders keen on NAIA rehabilitation project

FIVE potential bidders are considering participating in the public bidding for the rehabilitation of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

In a Viber message on Wednesday, the Department of Transportation (DoTr) said that as of Sept. 13, the upgrade of NAIA has attracted five companies.

The DoTr identified these companies as San Miguel Corp., India’s GMR group, the Manila International Airport Consortium (MIAC), Spark 888 Management, Inc., and the Asian Airport Consortium.

MIAC consists of Aboitiz InfraCapital, Inc., AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp., Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corp., Alliance Global-Infracorp Development, Inc., Filinvest Development Corp., JG Summit Infrastructure Holdings Corp., and US-based Global Infrastructure Partners.

In August, the government invited bidders for the P170.6-billion public-private partnership to modernize and operate the country’s airport.

The contract term for the project is 15 years and is extendable by another 10 years. The rehabilitation project targets to increase the airport’s annual passenger capacity to at least 62 million from 35 million.

Earlier this year, the National Economic and Development Authority approved NAIA’s rehabilitation through a solicited proposal scheme, superseding an unsolicited bid.

The Transportation department earlier said that it was expecting to award the winning bidder for the project possibly by next year.

It said the government would facilitate the solicited bidding for the NAIA public-private partnership project. — Ashley Erika O. Jose

#potential #bidders #keen #NAIA #rehabilitation #project

Ghibli’s Miyazaki has ideas for next project after The Boy and the Heron

TORONTO — Studio Ghibli’s legendary director, Hayao Miyazaki, 82, still has not put his pencil down, an executive at the Japanese animation studio said on Friday after its long awaited feature, The Boy and the Heron, opened the Toronto International Film Festival.

Mr. Miyazaki, who was not present at the film festival, is the internationally renowned director behind hand-drawn animated favorites like Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Howl’s Moving Castle, and many other beloved films created under the Studio Ghibli, which he co-founded.

“For the last 20 years, after finishing a movie, he would say I’m done… but this time, he didn’t mention anything about retirement,” Junichi Nishioka, the studio’s vice-president for international distribution told Reuters in an interview on Friday.

“There is nothing concrete on the table yet, but he shows the willingness to create something new,’ Mr. Nishioka said, adding that Mr. Miyazaki, is at the studio every day.

The film’s surprisingly low-key Japanese release in July came with conspicuously little promotional material as a part of the studio’s attempt to build mystery around the enigmatic film.

Mr. Nishioka said the idea not to promote the movie was producer Toshio Suzuki’s idea who wanted to bring an element of his movie-going experience as a child. He said the movie had had over five million viewers in Japan so far.

In Toronto, film buffs and movie fans lined up for the movie, the first time an animated Japanese film opened the festival.

“It was an amazing film… I really had high expectations but it blew past them,” said Gabriel Mas who attended the film’s premiere on Thursday.

MIYAZAKI’S MESSAGE
The film, adapted from a 1937 novel by Genzaburo Yoshino entitled How Do You Live, which Miyazaki read as a child, chronicles the journey of 11-year-old Mahito Maki, who loses his mother during World War II and embarks into a magical world.

The movie is also inspired by how Mr. Miyazaki himself felt after the war and coped with the loss of his mother.

Delighting anime fans with his return a decade after the release of The Wind Rises in 2013, Mr. Miyazaki seeks to convey a message to younger generations about how he lived and how young people should think about how they want to live.

“This is a personal film, showing how he (Miyazaki) lived, how he should have lived and throwing out the question to the audience, ‘So how do you live?’,” Mr. Nishioka said. — Reuters

#Ghiblis #Miyazaki #ideas #project #Boy #Heron

JLL Philippines Project Development and Services achieves 3 ISO certifications

JLL Philippines’ PDS business obtains certifications on Quality Management System, Environmental Management System, and Occupational Safety & Health Management System

Jones Lang LaSalle Philippines, Inc. (JLL), through its Project Development and Services (PDS) business, has obtained a new ISO certification on Environmental Management System (14001:2015).

JLL’s PDS business is the project management and construction line of JLL Philippines. Since 2020, the business has been ISO-certified for Quality Management System (ISO 9001:2015) and Occupational Safety & Health Management System (ISO 45001:2018).

JLL Philippines’ PDS business has been certified on June 23, 2023 by TÜV SÜD PSB, a trusted provider of the ISO/IEC 20000 Certification. Leading the certification are team members Jun Villaran, Rose Ann Sincioco-Delos Reyes, Arnold Relunio, and John Morgan.

• Quality Management System: ISO 9001:2015 specifies that an organization needs to demonstrate its ability to consistently provide products and services that meet applicable statutory and regulatory requirements while aiming to enhance customer satisfaction through the effective application of the system.

• Environmental Management System: ISO 14001:2015 is intended for use by an organization seeking to manage its environmental responsibilities in a systematic manner. The certification helps an organization achieve the intended outcomes of its environmental management system, which provide value for the environment, the organization itself and interested parties.

• Occupational Safety & Health Management System: ISO 45001:2018 enables organizations to provide safe and healthy workplaces by preventing work-related injury and ill health, as well as by proactively improving its occupational health and safety performance.

About ISO

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is an international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. Through its members, ISO brings together experts to share knowledge and develop voluntary, consensus-based, market relevant International Standards that support innovation and provide solutions to global challenges.

About JLL

JLL (NYSE: JLL) is a leading professional services firm that specializes in real estate and investment management. JLL shapes the future of real estate for a better world by using the most advanced technology to create rewarding opportunities, amazing spaces and sustainable real estate solutions for our clients, our people and our communities. JLL is a Fortune 500 company with annual revenue of $20.9 billion, operations in over 80 countries and a global workforce of more than 103,000 as of December 31, 2022. JLL is the brand name, and a registered trademark, of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated. For further information, visit jll.com.ph.

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#JLL #Philippines #Project #Development #Services #achieves #ISO #certifications

Philippines’ $3-billion airport project has three potential bidders – secretary

JAKARTA – A P170.6 billion ($3 billion) project to modernize the main international airport in the Philippines has attracted three potential bidders, including India’s GMR Group, the Philippine transportation secretary said on Wednesday.

Ranked among the world’s worst international gateways, the aging Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) badly needs an upgrade to end chronic flight delays, address congestion, and improve facilities.

The other two possible bidders were conglomerate San Miguel corporation and a Manila consortium, whose $4.9 billion unsolicited proposal for the project was rejected earlier, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said.

India’s GMR group has been operating an airport on the Philippine tourism island of Cebu.

“We want somebody who has experience in operating an airport … and, of course, with a very good financial background. Those are two major requirements,” Mr. Bautista said in an interview on the sideline of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Indonesia.

Bautista said the government would try to find overseas investors through two roadshows, in Singapore next week and in Paris in the third week of September, before opening bidding in the last week of December, and naming a winner in January.

The winning bidder must then operate and maintain the airport, the capacity of which would be doubled after the upgrade to about 60 million passengers a year, Mr.Bautista said, adding the concession period being offered was 25 years.

Apart from NAIA, the Philippines is seeking financing to upgrade four other airports, on Busuanga island, Zamboanga city, Sanga-Sanga island and General Santos city. It will also build a new airport in Brooke’s Point town on Palawan island.

The secretary presented the five projects during a business matching event on Wednesday on the sidelines of an ASEAN business summit. No deals had yet been agreed at this early stage, he said.

“This is more to give them information and we will need to do further communication with the audience,” he said.

RAILWAY PROJECTS

The Philippines has set an internal deadline to renegotiate Chinese loans for three railway projects worth $4.9 billion, at the end of December, Bautista said, adding that in parallel, the government had been talking to other possible investors.

Last year, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr ordered the transport ministry to renegotiate the loan agreements that were considered “withdrawn” after the Chinese government “failed to act on the funding requests”.

“If there will be no funding, we will have to cancel the existing agreement with them and look for another source of funding,” Mr. Bautista said, adding there were several interested investors.

The three projects are: Subic-Clark Railway Project, the Philippine National Railways South Long-Haul Project and the Davao-Digos segment of the Mindanao Railway Project.

Bautista said inflation might have pushed their costs up to more than $4.9 billion and the National Economic and Development Authority may have to be approve them again. — Reuters

#Philippines #3billion #airport #project #potential #bidders #secretary

Ruling on Makati-Taguig case hits Philippine Infradev subway project

PHILIPPINE Infradev Holdings, Inc. said the alignment of the planned $3.7-billion Makati City subway is no longer feasible after the recent decision of the Supreme Court (SC) mandating some areas covered by the project to be under Taguig City’s jurisdiction.

“Under the joint venture (JV) agreement executed between the Makati City government and the company, the depot and a few stations of the Makati City subway system will be in the affected areas. Also, the alignment of the subway will no longer be feasible,” Philippine Infradev said in a stock exchange disclosure on Wednesday.

Philippine Infradev said that it sent an intent notice to the Makati City government to propose discussions after the change in law with the SC decision.

“Please be informed that pursuant to the recent SC decision, some areas previously within the jurisdiction of Makati City were found to be within the jurisdiction of Taguig City instead,” the company said.

“We will advise the Philippine Stock Exchange and the Securities and Exchange Commission for any further material developments on the matter,” it added.

In October 2018, the Makati City government awarded the project to Philippine Infradev, followed by the project’s groundbreaking ceremony in December 2018.

The SC previously ruled that Fort Bonifacio and the Enlisted Men’s Barrios or the so-called “EMBO” barangays are under the jurisdiction of Taguig City.

The 10-kilometer project, which has 10 stations, was projected to be fully operational by 2025. It aims to link Ayala Ave. to the area of Ospital ng Makati through about a 15-minute trip.

In a separate statement, transport advocacy network The Passenger Forum (TPF) said the Taguig City government should be included in the JV between the Makati City government and Philippine Infradev.

“Commuters are really looking forward to having a subway in the heart of the busiest district in the country. If this requires including Taguig into the project, so be it. If this necessitates another JVA (joint venture agreement) with Taguig, Infradev should do it and do it fast,” TPF Convener Primo V. Morillo said.

“Infradev’s disclosure mentions something about their intent to start discussions with the LGU (local government unit) of Makati in light of the SC decision to grant some former Makati territories to Taguig City. We hope that they will find a workable solution as this is a very important mass transportation project and about 700,000 passengers are expected to ride and benefit from this subway on a daily basis,” he added.

According to Mr. Morillo, negotiating with the Taguig City government also opens the possibility of an expansion to BGC.

“Persuading Taguig to be part of this project is a crucial task for Infradev and expanding into BGC may just do the job. In our view, it may even push the daily ridership closer to a million commuters making it more efficient and helpful in our dreams to solve Metro Manila’s transport woes. We appeal to the good mayors of Makati and Taguig to cooperate for the sake of the commuting public and the nation,” Mr. Morillo said.

Mr. Morillo added that the Transportation department or the Metro Manila Development Authority should take over on the government side if the cities of Makati and Taguig will not “cooperate.”

“This is another way to save the project and it could even make the project better as it can go beyond the boundaries of those two cities,” Mr. Morillo said.

BusinessWorld sought the comment of a representative from the Makati City government but had not received a response as of the press deadline.

Shares of Philippine Infradev at the local bourse dropped six centavos or 10.34% on Wednesday to close at 52 centavos apiece. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

#Ruling #MakatiTaguig #case #hits #Philippine #Infradev #subway #project

Singapore to expand ocean CO2 removal project as scientists call for more research

SINGAPORE – Singapore is planning to expand a pilot project that boosts the ocean‘s capacity to absorb carbon dioxide emissions, using one of several emerging technologies that supporters hope can play a decisive role in the global battle against climate change.

As scientists call for more research into ocean carbon dioxide removal (OCDR), PUB, Singapore‘s national water agency, has built a plant that uses electricity to extract CO2 from seawater, allowing it to absorb more greenhouse gas from the atmosphere when it is pumped back out into the ocean.

The project, built at a desalination facility on Singapore‘s western coast, extracts 100 kilograms of CO2 a day using technology designed by US firm Equatic, founded by scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

At the plant, seawater is run through an electrolyzer, which converts dissolved CO2 into calcium carbonate and produces hydrogen.

PUB is aiming to secure funds by the end of the year to build a demonstration plant with a daily capacity of 10 tons, and will look at expanding further, said Gurdev Singh, a PUB general manager who leads the project.

“We have shown that the technology works, but the key now is to optimize the technology at scale,” he said.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has said the removal of CO2 in the atmosphere will be as important as cutting emissions when it comes to curbing temperature rises.

But while OCDR has been described by one environmental group as an “unsung hero” in the fight against global warming, it remains unclear whether the new technologies are feasible when deployed at scale.

Equatic founder Gaurav Sant stressed the commercial potential.

“What makes this a resilient commercial opportunity is that you can essentially have the same equipment to give you two products: carbon credits and hydrogen,” he said.

It could also profit by selling calcium carbonate to the local building industry, he added.

The project is one of several pilot OCDR ventures around the world. Some rely on bringing nutrient-rich deep-sea water to the surface to stimulate seaweed growth, while others aim to reduce ocean acidification levels and thereby boost CO2 uptake.

Some experts warn that the potential ecological impact of these technologies is still unknown. On Tuesday, more than 200 scientists said in an open letter that OCDR research should be prioritized not only to maximize its potential, but also head off potential risks.

Sir David King, head of the Climate Crisis Advisory Group and one of the letter’s signatories, said he favored nature-based approaches, and was skeptical about the efficacy of energy-intensive OCDR technologies like the Equatic venture, which will cost a lot to pump water in and out of the plant.

But billions of tons of CO2 need to be removed from the atmosphere, and more investment in OCDR research was needed urgently, he said.

“What is needed today is to shorten the experimental timeline, and that really demands much more funding,” he said.

“If somebody came up with a few billion dollars, I believe we would accelerate these programs to the level that is really needed.” – Reuters

#Singapore #expand #ocean #CO2 #removal #project #scientists #call #research

ACEN board clears investment in 335-MW onshore wind farm project

ACEN Corp.’s board has given the green light for the Ayala-led company to invest in a 335-megawatt (MW) onshore wind power project after its subsidiary won in a government auction for renewable energy (RE) capacity.

In a stock exchange disclosure on Tuesday, the company said its unit Giga Ace 6, Inc. had been recently awarded for its successful bid for the second round of the Department of Energy’s green energy auction (GEA-2).

ACEN said its board on Sept. 4 approved the company’s procurement of a performance bond for the benefit of its subsidiary “to enable the latter’s compliance with the requirements of GEA-2.”

The government’s green energy auction program is a competitive process of procuring RE supply by offering capacities to qualified bidders at a set maximum or ceiling price.

Based on the Energy department’s list of winning bidders, Giga Ace won the bid for its Isla wind power project located in the provinces of Laguna and Quezon with an offered capacity of 230 MW for P5.79 per kilowatt-hour.

The wind project’s operation is set to start on Dec. 24, 2026.

ACEN did not disclose more details on the amount of investment and timeline of the operations.

Under GEA-2, which was conducted on July 3, successful bids reached an equivalent of 3,440 MW, or below the 11,600-MW offered capacity.

Earlier, ACEN said that it expects to ramp up its RE expansion after raising P25 billion from a perpetual preferred share offering under the first tranche of its shelf registration of up to 50 million preferred shares.

Currently, ACEN has approximately 4,200 MW of attributable capacity spanning the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, India, and Australia.

The energy company aspires to become the largest listed RE platform in Southeast Asia with a target portfolio of 20 gigawatts by 2030.

The existing capacity attributable to the company has a renewable share of 98%, the company said, claiming the figure to be among the highest in the region.

At the stock exchange on Tuesday, shares in ACEN slipped by four centavos or 0.78% to close at P5.06 apiece. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera

#ACEN #board #clears #investment #335MW #onshore #wind #farm #project

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