The government envisions New Clark City, a new metropolis that will rise within the Clark Special Economic Zone, as a city of the future, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said.
At the Philippine Economic Briefing held in Pampanga, Dominguez said Clark will be the showcase of the Duterte administration’s economic strategy promoting inclusive development.
“We expect this area to be the growth driver of Central and Northern Luzon,” Dominguez said. “It captures what the Build Build Build program aspires to achieve,” he said.
Spanning 9,450 hectares, the New Clark City will be the first smart, green, and resilient metropolis in the country. It is one of the big-ticket projects of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) under the Build Build Build infrastructure program.
“The New Clark City will soon be the next big metropolis. This, truly, is where the future begins. We envision this as the hub of agro-industrial facilities, as well as the home for cutting-edge technology companies,” Dominguez said.
For his part, BCDA President and Chief Executive Officer Vivencio Dizon committed to finish the New Clark City construction “in record time.”
“I think that this is a testament to two major differences to the government of President Rodrigo Duterte; and that’s boldness and swiftness. We will do the things that need to be done boldly and very fast,” Dizon said.
“We promised ourselves that we will never be accused of being ‘no action, talk only’. We promised ourselves that this government would not be like that. We would be all action, very little talk,” Dizon added.
One of the components of the New Clark City, the National Government Administrative Center (NGAC), broke ground last January. The NGAC involves the development of back-up offices of various government agencies to ensure continuous business operations in case of calamities and disasters.
Phase 1A of the NGAC project also features the construction of world-class sports facilities to be used for the Southeast Asian Games in November 2019. It covers 40 hectares.