The blueprint of New City for God: The Philippine New Science Cities The Expanded Executive Summary Project Title THE PHILIPPINE NEW SCIENCE CITIES Project Location In the Philippines Requested Loan Budget US $ 168.68 Billion from the Investor (100% funding) Target Income for 20 years US $ 368.52 Billion less loan capital of $ 168.68 Billion with 4% annual interest for 20 years ( US $ 303.08 ) Project Duration 20 years (6 years for construction and 14 years operation) Project Coverage 5 New Science Cities in Palawan, 2 in Luzon, 2 in Visayas, and 1 in Mindanao - all in the Philippines BACKGROUND There is an urgent need to refocus the development of the Philippines by making Palawan as the center of the new developments in the Philippines due to great valid reasons of the fault lines imminent in the Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao aside from threats of volcanic eruptions and typhoon pathways. The archipelago of Palawan is having no fault lines and volcanoes with lesser typhoons every year. The Food and Bioenergy Parks, now in the world, are models for the conversion of rural areas for New Science Cities where communities are transformed into perfection of science and technology applied to urban planning and developments. Palawan is known as one of the most beautiful islands in the world now due to its unlimited tourist attractions and ecological importance. And with the enactment of the Philippine laws on the Biofuels Act of 2006 (RA 9367) and the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (RA 9513) provide the opportunity for local governments and private entities to go into biofuel production and build both on- and off-grid plants to augment the existing plants that prove to be inadequate to supply the ever increasing demand for electricity. The Laws set the general direction of the Philippine power industry to renewable energy sources in which the major focus of attention is now on biofuels. The ample supplies of biodegradable household wastes as well as agricultural crops and wastes that can be transformed into biofuels provide the opportunity for all interested parties to go into biofuel processing and production. The stakeholders in the biofuels industry are still individually scattered moving on their own ways relying on their own resources. Likewise, there are also no major players yet in the renewable energy most probably due to high capital cost and long return on investments. Consolidating all these biofuel and other renewable energy stakeholders in one location would be one of the best strategies to catalyze the fast and sustainable development of the biofuels and renewable energy industries. Then with the integration of Food Factories and Agri-tourism … new science city is proposed. GOAL/OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT The goal of this New Science Cities - Philippine Agenda is to consolidate all the stakeholders in the food, bio-fuels and renewable energy industry in 10 locations to be called as the New Science Cities and then integrate the agri-tourism developments. Specifically, the objectives are the following: • To establish a physical, business, social, tourism and entertainment, and research and training infrastructure in a strategic place • To encompass all the aspects of food supply and bio-energy chains focusing on the unique link between agriculture and energy and facilitate integration of various agribusiness value chain components with spatial integration of different agro-production chains, processing units and non-agro functions in the state • To provide tremendous scope for economic transformation and employment generation including domestic and international tourism. Focus on Agri-tourism and Bio-energy for Economic Development of Palawan Agriculture and tourism are now the Philippine’s largest industry. The advancement in the use of agricultural crops and agricultural waste for bio-fuels has further widened the opportunities for agricultural development. However, the economic development of the Philippines still lacks the needed physical and business infrastructure. For instance, the BIMP-EAGA (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines) has yet to realize its goals of increasing trade, investments and tourism in the East ASEAN region. The Philippines New Science Cities - Providing the Structure and Order The New Science Cities is centered on the Food and Bioenergy Park that is patterned after the International Food Park model prepared by Wagenengin University in The Netherlands. It will be spread over 600 hectares of each Park at six different locations in Palawan, Philippines which will be linked to various production and trading centers in the Philippines coming from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The food park being proposed will be easily accessible by road, rail, sea and air. The site will be also within easy distance, which will thus connect the park to international markets and thereby making this a logistically efficient site. The Food and Bioenergy Park will have facilities for: • Production – Green Houses, Glass Houses, Tunnels and Nurseries for plant production, integrated dairy farms, and livestock farms etc. • Aggregation – Market terminal, loading and unloading Yards, Sorting, Grading and Auction Halls • Segregation – Sorting-Grading-Repacking Facilities for Wet and Dry cargo • Post Harvest – Pre-cooling, Ripening, Irradiation and Vapour Heat Treatment, IQF / Freeze dried / RTC / RTE • Storage (Wet) – Multi-chamber Cold Rooms, Commodity Cold Storage and Sub-zero Chambers Storage (Dry) – Modern Warehouses, Silos, Oil Tanks and Fumigation Services • Biomass storage and Bio-fuel Refinery – this will serve as the “sanitary landfill” for all farm wastes that are properly segregated according to classification. This includes warehousing for feedstock, contract production of feedstock and waste collection, and centralized bio-refinery and barge transport of fuel. • Distribution – Inward and Outward Logistics and Distribution/Consolidation Centers and container handling facilities etc. • Value Addition – Food Processing Zone and Built-to-suit Units for Large, Medium and Small Processing Units for meat & poultry, dairy, juices, cereals, snacks, pickles, confectionary, Nutraceuticals & Food Additives (ex. Pectin) and feed manufacturing and units as desired by the tenants. • Quality – World class Quality Control Lab, R&D Center and Pilot Plant-incubation Facilities • Amenities – Admin Center, IT Center, Banking facilities Guest Rooms, Dormitory and Canteens • Training – Agri-polytechnic, Horticulture Training Center, Agri-clinics, Farmer Training Center and Retail Training are being proposed. • Social Infrastructure – Education, Health Care, Rural BPO, Rural Mart, Motel/Hotel, Rural Tourism, Residential Zone, Leisure and Entertainment Zone • Common infrastructure utilities - Power Generation, Transmission & Distribution, Water Sourcing, Generation, Supply & Recycling System, Telecom & Info-com Infrastructure, Sewage / Effluent Treatment System, Solid Waste Management System. Community development focus of the project The ten Philippine New science Cities will be established as an edifice that will portray a solid structure towards an internationally competitive agriculture economy and tourism in the region. The community focus of the project will be functionally integrated to the recent development strategies in the Philippines. On this basis, farming communities in the province will serve as the major production units of the food parks. The New Science Cities will also address concerns such as job training, business skill development, farmland preservation, and community revitalization. The food parks may be functionally linked to such resources that may include supermarkets, farmers’ markets, gardens, transportation, community-based food, processing ventures and tourism. The food parks will also focus on self-reliance and empowerment and will establish better links between farmers and consumers, helping to strengthen consumer knowledge and concern about their food source. The food parks will also focus on the food system, by focusing on collaboration among many partners involved in farming, processing, distribution, marketing and consuming food products then tourism. Participatory project ownership and accountability The Philippines New Science Cities will embark on experimenting project ownership and accountability models. Its general ownership will be formed based on private sector and community participation. The mutually harmonious relationships that will be established among these important sectors and stakeholders will provide the needed strength for the food parks. More important, the food parks will attract the best technologies and business models in the world, a symbolism that even developed nations must stand for in line with global development. Project cost and foreseen impact The project agenda will cost US $ 168.68 billion. Funding will be through equity financing from interested investors. Loans from international financing institutions on a project financing scheme is also now considered. The foreseen impact of the project will include revitalizing local agriculture, tourism, construction, employment generation, reduced dependency on imported food, internationally competitive agriculture sector, and more important its impact as a solid business and physical infrastructure for economic development. In 20 years to come, it is envisioned that the project will earn a gross income of US $ 368 billion with US $ 303.08 billion payments to the investors. Project Stage The project is still in the conceptualization stage although state of the art international food park models in China, India, and The Netherlands are still either in the planning or construction stages. The planning stage of the project will be a collaborative undertaking among the national government of the Philippines, local government units, the academe sector, non-government organizations, peoples’ organization and the private sectors of Palawan and Puerto Princesa City, AKOSTARDATCOM CONSULTANCY SERVICES, the investors, locators, and Wageningen University in the Netherlands, the leading international food park planner in the world. Further government assistance, i.e., national agencies, will also be sought in the research and planning stage. But to further attract worthy investors and locators as worthy participants, a vigorous campaign right at the beginning of the project will be launched. CONCLUSION The Philippine New Science Cities will be the model project that fully embraces community development and in effect, it will diligently advocate the business in development paradigm, which is perhaps the best answer to global economic recovery today using the agri-tourism approach by employing the NEW SCIENCE CITY in the making. REPAYMENT PLAN The Repayment Plan of the Philippines New Science Cities normally starts in the 6th year and to be done yearly until the 20th year for final payment. The funding of US $ 168.68 billion by the Foreign Investments for this project is expected to earn 4% annual interest for 20 years with more or less US $ 303 billion. The first 5 years will be for the conduct of survey, permit, government approval, construction, and marketing. Target gross income of this project for 20 years is US $ 368.52 billion.
Posted on: Wed, 02 Apr 2014 02:33:50 +0000
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