Bulacan-Tarlac rail system in Clark Green City blueprint

MANILA, Philippines – The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) has finalized an agreement with a Japanese state firm to jointly develop within one year a detailed master plan for Clark Green City, including the blueprint for a rail system from Bulacan to Tarlac.

BCDA and the Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corp. for Transport and Urban Development (JOIN) signed yesterday an agreement forming a joint venture entity with the primary task of crafting a detailed master plan for Clark Green City.

BCDA president and CEO Arnel Paciano Casanova said the detailed master plan, once completed within a year’s time, would serve as the blueprint from which all infrastructure designs in Clark Green City would be based.

“The detailed master plan will identify the precise boundaries and measurements of streets, lots, waterways, development zones, and building types, among others, which will be used as the basis for infrastructure design and its eventual construction,” Casanova said.

He said development of the detailed master plan may require investment of at least $1 million from both parties.

Part of the detailed master plan is to identify the design and viability of constructing the Clark Rail Transit System which will run from Malolos, Bulacan to Clark Green City.

The Clark Rail, which will cover some 85 kilometers, would link with the North-South Commuter Railway project of the Department of Transportation and Communications.

“We are now aggressively pursuing the opportunity to build the Malolos to Clark Green City connection,” said Casanova, who earlier placed investment for the railway project between $1.7 billion to $1.9 billion.

The BCDA and JOIN joint venture will be a private entity that is going to be incorporated in the Philippines.

Under the agreement, 45 percent will be owned by BCDA while 55 percent will be held by JOIN.

Casanova said the involvement of JOIN in the development of Clark Green City would lead to multiple joint venture partnerships that would serve as a vehicle for the formation of a Japanese consortium and investments in the field of power, transportation, tollways, industrial zones and economic centers

JOIN is a Japanese government corporation that aims to invest and participate in transport or urban development projects, involving Japanese companies, such as bullet trains, airports, and green cities.

“By investing in Clark Green City, JOIN will help transform it into a major economic center of the ASEAN economic bloc,” Casanova said.

The 9,450-hectare Clark Green City, which is located inside the Clark Special Economic Zone in Tarlac, is envisioned to be the country’s first smart, green and disaster-resilient metropolis.