DAVAO CITY—Plans to put up a Mindanao railway system were revived anew here with a foreign company expressing interest in helping finance the project.

The Mindanao railway system has long been a dream among Mindanao officials but the idea failed to take-off even with the aggressive support of then Sen. Santanina Rasul.

But on Tuesday, during the continuation of the East Asean Growth Area (EAGA) Investment Conference here, London-based MCC Capital Projects Ltd. expressed interest in conducting a feasibility study on the Mindanao railway system.

EAGA is an economic grouping involving Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.

Break

Antonio Santos, BIMP-EAGA Business Council (BEBC) chair, said in his report to the BIMP-EAGA 15th Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) that formally opened Tuesday at the Marco Polo Hotel here that he has already discussed the idea with Faisal Kasim, MCC chief executive officer.

Santos said Mindanao Business Council (MinBC) chair Vicente Lao was also present during the discussion that centered on the mechanisms of the proposal.

Closer to goal

Santos said Lao has proposed that the project will be undertaken under a build-operate-transfer (BOT) scheme but Kasim expressed preference for joint-venture agreements with local government units (LGUs).

Under Kasim’s proposal, LGUs would put up 60 percent of the funds needed for the construction of the railway system while his company will take charge of the remaining 40 percent.

Santos said Kasim also suggested that to make things easier, LGUs could form a corporation.

While LGUs have yet to commit, Santos said MCC was planning to conduct a study on the project by next month.

Aside from the railway project, Santos also reported that at least 20 possible partnerships between EAGA members have been discussed.

These included property development—including housing development projects, joint ventures in mining projects, biodiesel and seafood processing.

source: Inquirer.net

	1. Written by This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it on 05-11-2007 05:35 - Guest
	Mindanao Railway Plan Its a good project that will be beneficial to Mindanaoans if it will be realized. But, PEACE AND ORDER PROBLEM in Mindanao must be taken into consideration.

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