Global food tech companies have been tapped to provide technical assistance in building an P8.5-billion 62-hectare Clark National Food Hub project at the civil aviation complex in Clark.
Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) said it recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Food Starter Philippines, a subsidiary of Singapore-based Food Starter Pte. Ltd. and World Food Chain Pte. Ltd. for the modern Clark National Food Hub.
Food Starter and World Food Chain are global sourcing and technology resource firms in the field of food procurement and operations dealing with global agricultural financing and investments.
Under the MOU, these food firms will provide technical and advisory assistance on transport, trade and investment, warehousing and storage infrastructure development, and trade visits to strategic logistics hubs within members of the Asean.
“This most recent MOU advances our efforts to start developing a food hub ecosystem aggregator which will ensure sustainable food security solutions,” said Arrey Perez, CIAC president.
With Perez as signatories to the MOU are Jeremy Nathaniel Gohkongwei, chairperson and chief executive officer (CEO) of Food Security Pte. Ltd. and World Food Chain Pte. Ltd. group; Chief of Party Dr. Juanito Abaquin; Abdolrazagh Mohammadi, CEO of the Emirates International Holdings Group; and World Food Chain representatives Adam Cheng Tien Fook and Mark Joseph Perez.
The Clark National Food Hub project is set on replicating state-of-the-art agro-logistics system of food hubs in advanced Asian countries, raise the standards of food safety, and provide better opportunities for the local farmers, fisherfolk and growers.
Early this year, CIAC secured the nod of the National Economic and Development Authority for the project’s inclusion in the Public Investment Program for 2023 to 2028, along with the approval for its Project Development and Monitoring Facility application for project preparation and transaction advisory support with the Public-Private Partnership Center.
