San Miguel Corp. chair and CEO Ramon S. Ang said European banks are financing the project, while foreign specialists are helping design and supervise critical work.
“Those financing this airport development are all foreign banks from Europe. We did not borrow the money here,” Ang said in a briefing attended by Bulacan-based and national media.
“That is why it really needs to comply with all international standards,” he added.
Designed around flooding
Danish engineering specialist Danish Hydraulic Institute (DHI) designed the airport’s drainage system after studying how water moves through the site and surrounding communities.
Its work covered nearby rivers, coastal waters, major storms, rising seas and the gradual sinking of land in parts of Bulacan.
SMAI said UK-based Mott MacDonald later reviewed and combined DHI’s data and models to help the project meet international lender standards.
Dutch engineering giant Boskalis carried out the airport’s land-development work and remains involved in technical supervision.
“Until today, and I am saying this officially, we are still engaging them and still paying them for the technical supervision of the airport’s land development,” Ang said.
International backing
Dutch export-credit agency Atradius also supports the project by insuring financing connected to the Boskalis contract, protecting participating banks against certain repayment risks.
Representatives of the foreign lenders are expected to inspect the site in the coming weeks as part of their regular checks on the project, InsiderPH learned.
Local banks are not staying on the sidelines.
Market insiders said Philippine lenders also want to join the financing of the airport and its planned aerotropolis.
Examined before it was backed
NMIA was previously presented at a forum of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, a 38-country group that develops widely followed global policies and standards.
The airport was discussed as an example of how lenders, consultants and developers can address environmental and social issues in a major emerging-market project.
“The NMIA project is a clear example on how the cooperation of financial institutions and consultants can help project developers work towards compliance with International Standards,” Marije Hensen of Atradius Dutch State Business, said in a statement last April.
“We carefully considered the project, and decided to support it. The results show that it was worth the effort,” she added.
—Edited by Miguel R. Camus
