Unresolved commercial issues have taken the Philipine government to delay the Aug. 28 deadline for its first airport PPP deal-the Mactan-Cebu International Airport.

Issues such as minimum performance and specification standards as well as commercial issues like Duty Free operations, local government unit actions and real property taxes are making investors doubt about the project.

The government is finishing the concession agreement to take into account recent one-on-one sessions with seven prequalified bidders and a draft could be ready this Friday, according to Philipine PPP Center executive director Cosette Canilao.

Transportation Secretary Joseph Abaya said separately that the government would give the private sector at least 30 days to prepare once the concession agreement has been issued. Although some of the bidders had requested more time, from 45 days to 75 days.

All seven groups vying for the Mactan airport project were successfully prequalified in May. The teams are the following:

1. MPIC-JG Summit Consortium composed of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and JG Summit Holdings, Inc., with France's Aeroports De Lyon as operation and maintenance (O&M) partner;
2. AAA Airport Partners composed of the Ayala and Aboitiz groups, with Texas-based Houston Airport System as O&M partner;
3. Filinvest-CAI Consortium of Filinvest Development Corp. and Changi Airports Mena Pte. Ltd., with Changi Airport Saudi Ltd. as the O&M partner;
4. San Miguel-Incheon Airport Consortium, composed of South Korea's Incheon International Airport Corp. as lead member and three others, including San Miguel Corp.-led Optimal Infrastructure Development, Inc. - with Incheon acting as the O&M partner;
5. First Philippine Airports led by First Philippine Holdings, Inc., with Wellington International Airport Ltd., NZ Airports Ltd., and Infratil Ltd. as O&M partners;
6. Premier Airport Group led by SM Investments Corp., with Switzerland-based Flughafen Zurich AG as O&M partner; and
7. GMR Infrastructure and Megawide Consortium of Megawide Construction Corp. and India-based GMR Infrastructure Ltd., with Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd. and GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd. as O&M partners.

The P17.5-billion Mactan-Cebu airport project involves construction of a new terminal, rehabilitation of the existing facility and a 20-year O&M contract.