Plan to develop former Clark Air Base draws interest from local, Asian developers

Manila

THE plan by the Philippines to develop the former Clark Air Base has drawn interest from Asian developers, who may join a Black Eyed Peas rapper in promoting an alternative urban centre to the country's congested capital.

Taiwan's Farglory Land Development Co and the property arm of Japan's Sumitomo Corp are among foreign companies that may be keen on the project, joining local developers such as Ayala Land Inc, said Arnel Casanova, president and chief executive of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority or BCDA, the state manager of former military properties.

Earlier this year, Mr Casanova recruited Allan Pineda, a member of hip hop group the Black Eyed Peas, to promote the site to relieve congestion in Manila, one of the world's most overcrowded cities. Mr Pineda, whose American father was an airman at the former Clark Air Base, is a citizen of both the US and the Philippines. "We need to ease the…