A Chinese company has received approval to build a $2 billion industrial park at a former US military outpost in the Philippines, according to a Financial Times report, another sign that the government of Rodrigo Duterte is strengthening ties with Beijing.
The project announcement comes as Xi Jinping heads to the Philippines later this week for the first state visit of a Chinese leader since 2005.
Vicenzio Dizon, the head of the Philippines’ Bases Conversion and Development Authority, said that it will sign a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese group, China Gezhouba, to develop the 500-hectare space.
The Philippine government, as part of President Duterte’s $180 billion “build, build, build” scheme, hopes to turn the area where the base is located into a business hub.
“It’s probably going to be one of the biggest Chinese investments in the country,” Dizon told the FT. “You are talking about thousands of jobs that would be made available there once those industrial locators come in.”