MVP Group eyes expansion of water business in ASEAN

MANILA, Philippines - The MVP Group is in talks with potential partners to expand its bulk water business in the ASEAN region, tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan said yesterday.

“There is a push to get (the business) outside the franchise area of Maynilad and even outside the country,” he told reporters.

Pangilinan said the group is actively looking at a number of opportunities in the ASEAN and expects to close a partnership in Indonesia within the year.

 “We are talking to them…possible (we can close) in the next two years but the one in Indonesia, we’re trying to work it out (this year),” Pangilinan said.

Specifically, the group is on the lookout for bulk water projects in Indonesia such as Bali and Jakarta.

 Here at home, Pangilinan said MetroPac Water Investments Corp. (MPW) is also looking for opportunities outside Metro Manila.

MPW yesterday signed a joint venture agreement with the Cagayan de Oro Water District (COWD) for the formation of a joint venture company to undertake the supply of bulk treated water to address the requirements of Cagayan de Oro City.

The 30-year project will have a term of 30 years – renewable for another 20 years – and involves the supply of up to 100 million liters per day of treated bulk water to COWD.

 It will start with 60 MLD and ramp it up to 100 MLD in two years or after the company has put in place some water transmission facilities, said MPW president Laurence Rogero.

He said the project involves the construction of new water transmission lines and rehabilitation of the Camaman-an Reservoir, and will also eventually involve the delivery of bulk treated water to service the requirements of Cagayan de Oro’s western sector, which currently relies on deep wells for its water supply.

 At present, COWD serves a population of more than 700,000 residents and has approximately 85,000 service connections.

 MPW bagged the project in 2017 after undergoing a comparative challenge as required by the 2013 Revised Joint Venture Guidelines of the National Economic and Development Authority.

Aside from the Cagayan project, MWIC supplies bulk water in Iloilo and Laguna.

To date, MWIC’s operating water projects collectively provide 152 MLD of water and will increase to 390 MLD when fully developed – equivalent to 28 percent of the current billed volume of Maynilad of 1,370 MLD.