NDC: Over P30 billion in investments awaiting approval

MANILA, Philippines — Over P30 billion worth of investments are under various stages of evaluation, according to the National Development Co. (NDC).

Based on a shortlist from the NDC, there are at least 18 projects with expected investments from NDC worth P30.7 billion that are in various stages of evaluation.

“Some have been approved,” Anton Mauricio said in a Viber message.

Among the projects in the shortlist are the vaccine manufacturing plant in Batangas of Glovax Lifescience Corp., in which NDC is investing P150 million,  as well as the biowaste to organic fertilizer project of Davao Thermo Biotech Corp., where the NDC is investing P40 million.

The NDC is also evaluating a P50-million investment for an animal vaccine project of Glovax, P1.5 billion investment in a medical waste disposal project, and P18.5 billion investment in the One DTI Building, among others.

Also in the list is a P150-million investment in a waste-to-energy project of Australiam firm Cyclion.

In October, the NDC is looking at a potential investment in Cyclion, which will help fulfill the government’s objectives of energy security and sustainability, as it processes a letter of intent with the company.

“It is NDC’s belief that the project falls well within the NDC’s investment criteria of pioneering, developmental, inclusive, sustainable and innovative,” it said.

Moreover, the NDC is evaluating investments in Singapore-based Kacific Broadband Satellite with P1.1 billion for the purchase of broadband capacity and P550 million for equity investments.

“Kacific Broadband Satellite group is a Singapore-based company that has already invested more than $35 million in the Philippines, providing broadband satellite access to unserved and underserved areas through contracts with (the Department of Information and Communications) and other agencies,” Mauricio said.

“The Philippines  aims to secure the connectivity demands of the country by investing in the Kacific group itself, thus gaining an advantage over countries competing for the same bandwidth over the next decade,” he said.

He said the NDC investment in the Kacific group would allow NDC to pre-purchase frequency blocks from Kacific at a lower price, which in turn will be sold at lower-than-market prices to Philippine buyers, especially the government, over the next six years.