Bilyonaryo Edgar Saavedra is adamant that Megawide Construction has complied with the additional requirements necessary for its P109 billion proposal to rehabilitate and transform the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
Among the key requirements submitted to the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) is the “statement of joint solidary liability” between Megawide and its Indian partner, GMR, which was “required by the National Economic and Development Authority.” Megawide and GMR signed a 60-40 deal last week, or four months after Saavedra was granted original proponent status in July 2020.
“The financial documents we submitted are sufficient to exclusively support the requirements of the NAIA project. With this, we are hopeful our proposal to rehabilitate and transform NAIA into a first-world airport complex can now be elevated to the Cabinet committee for approval and proceed to Swiss challenge,” said Louie Ferrer, Megawide Managing Director, in a disclosure released by the Philippine Stock Exchange after trading hours.
Saavedra, Megawide chairman and CEO, boasted that GMR was “among the world’s leading and largest airport operators, and pre-pandemic managed over 100 million passengers annually, connecting 267 global cities.”
Saavedra said the 49 percent buy-in of Groupe ADP (Aeroports de Paris) in GMR in two months ago has further boosted the stature of Megawide’s partner.
“Megawide looks forward to leveraging GMR and ADP’s global leadership and rich experience in the rehabilitation and transformation of NAIA,” said Saavedra.
Saavedra issued the statement amid an exclusive report by BILYONARYO that Finance Secretary Sonny Dominguez and acting NEDA Secretary Karl Chua have rejected Megawide’s proposal for NAIA due to Megawide’s lack of equity – it only has P18 billion in equity as of December 2019 or way below the P32.3 billion equity requirement for the NAIA project.
