San Fernando City, Pampanga (12 February) -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said yesterday that executives of Singapore's world-class Changi Airport have expressed interest to undertake a further upgrading of the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) at the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga to make the terminal at par with the best airports in the world.

In her keynote address during the centennial celebration of the Pampanga High School here, the President described the Singaporeans' interest in the development of the DMIA as a clear indication that foreign investors remain bullish on the country's economy despite the political noise generated by the political oppositions and government critics.

"Singapore (has expressed intent) to meet with airport officials in Clark to give an unsolicited offer to further develop the DMIA," the President said.

The President added that the Singaporean airport officials were very impressed with the facilities of the DMIA.

Under the President's initiative, the former military airstrip in Clark Field, Pampanga was converted into an international airport to serve as an alternative to the already congested Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Pasay City.

After investing hundreds of millions of pesos on a spacious new terminal building and large-aircraft support facilities, the DMIA recently acquired new radar equipment to beef up its all weather aircraft tracking facilities.

The DMIA now hosts a number of small international carriers like Tiger Airways, which operates direct flights from the DMIA to a number of Asian cities like Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong.