DIPOLOG CITY – Mayor Carlito A. Feras of President Manuel A. Roxas town in Zamboanga del Norte wants more bidders, both local and foreign, to build its Mega Agro Industrial Park worth some 13-billion-euro.

Feras revealed that the owner of AP Contractors, LTD., Mr. Arne Pedersen of Denmark, the foreign contractor, is interested to undertake the project and has been meeting with REBC chairman Reynaldo Esplanada, the fund facilitator for the loan which will be offered by several offshore banks.

“While a big contractor like Mr. Arne Pedersen of AP Contractors Ltd. is bidding for the project, I want more bidders to come in so we can choose which firm is giving us a better offer,” Feras stressed.

Leading the foreign banks which will provide the 13-billion-euro fund is ABN AMRO with consortium banks like the HSBC, Citibank, ING Bank, Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS), including local banks led by the University Savings Bank (USB), Banco Filipino and Maybank.

The project would be built for a five-year period under the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) scheme pursuant to Republic Act 7718, or the Local Autonomy of the Local Government Units (LGUs) and the Philippine Export Zone Authority (PEZA) Law.

Feras said those interested bidders must show the following requirements: Letter of Intent; complete company profile with PCAB license; and, three years audited financial statement to the municipal government of President Manuel A. Roxas.

He assured the firms wanting to bid or the winning bidder of safety, although the municipality enjoys stable peace and order and an industrious peace-loving people.

The Mega Agro Industrial Park is aimed at developing the entire town as a haven for investments by building road-network, commercial buildings, a shopping mall, hotels and restaurants, develop tourism sites, industrial and business processing outsourcing areas to attract local and foreign investors and tourists.

It also provides livelihood for the people and programs to enhance agriculture production that would supply raw materials to the local industries and spur trade and commerce in the area.