Italian-led consortium wins $106m Filipino water project

A consortium led by Italy’s C.M.C. di Ravenna has agreed to design and construct a water supply project for Manila Water Company in a contract valued at 5.4 billion Philippine Pesos ($106 million; €88.6 million).

Construction firm C.M.C. di Ravenna said it holds a 50 percent share in the consortium which also consists of Hong Kong’s Asia Allied Infrastructure, formerly known as Chun Wo Development, and First Balfour from the Philippines. The group is now tasked with designing and building the Novaliches-Balara Aqueduct No. 4 project, which will be operated by Manila Water once the construction is completed in 2021.

The aqueduct project is one of the largest water supply infrastructure projects undertaken by Manila Water, the exclusive water services provider in the eastern side of Metro Manila under a concession agreement with government agency Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System. Manila Water is about 42 percent owned by local conglomerate Ayala Corporation.

The water supply project involves the design and construction of water conveying facilities, including a 7-km hydraulic tunnel, connecting Navaliches and Balara in Quezon City. 

“Supported by strong government spending and construction projects, the Philippines economy has been growing healthily in recent years. Strong inflow of foreign direct investments also added to the country’s development in other sectors such as services and industries,” said Dominic Pang, chairman of Asia Allied Infrastructure, adding that, with a 6.5 percent GDP in the second quarter of 2017, the country’s economy is leading all Southeast Asian countries.

This is Asia Allied Infrastructure’s first project in the Philippines. Pang added the firm is looking to explore other government-related infrastructure opportunities in the country and across the region. The Hong Kong-based company, which had total assets of 8.46 billion Hong Kong dollars ($1.08 billion; €906 million) as of this March, has been recently expanding its business into construction management, finance and investment and project consultancy across Asia Pacific, in addition to its core businesses in construction, property development and management.

C.M.C di Ravenna, with total assets of around €1.87 billion, has completed projects in over 40 countries, some of which in Asia include several water supply facilities in China and Nepal, and two completed hydropower plants in the Philippines. It is looking to have a turnover of €1.5 billion in 2019 from €1.2 billion reported in 2016.