Finance secretary Carlos Dominguez III said some P326 billion worth of projects have begun construction or will be built starting this year which would lead to a “blossoming of opportunities” for Filipino businessmen.

Dominguez said businesses should expect to be busy starting this year as the Duterte administration rolls out big-ticket infrastructure projects that would, in turn, stimulate the economy, create jobs and generate more financing opportunities for the country’s banking and insurance sectors.

“It is not only the large businesses that will benefit from the multifold opportunities that will open up in the near future. Our closer relationship with China, Japan, South Korea and the Asean will translate into rapid tourism growth and bountiful export markets. This will mean stronger demand for processed food, in-person service enterprises, household items and consumer electronics,” he said.

He added the stronger linkages forged with development partners and regional neighbors will provide new drivers for the growth of the domestic economy.

Among the large-scale infrastructure projects that would commence this year are the Clark-Subic Rail, Tutuban-Clark Rail and the 581-kilometer South Line of the North-South Railway Project connecting Tutuban, Calamba, Batangas and Bicol, Dominguez said.

He said construction has begun on the Panguil Bay Bridge in Mindanao, while groundbreaking rites are set this year for the Clark International Airport, Metro Manila Bus Rapid Transit System and three bridges across Pasig River, two of which will be built through Chinese grants.

According to Dominguez, government is also closely working with Chinese partners to finally start this year the construction of the Kaliwa Dam, which will help ensure a stable water supply to Metro Manila, and the Chico River Pump Irrigation project in the Cordillera region.

“The administration envisions one trillion pesos a year in infrastructure investments. This alone should help sustain our growth momentum,” he said.

Beyond 2017, the Duterte administration will start building long-span bridges between Bicol and Samar, and between Leyte and Surigao that will finally make land travel between Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao possible, Dominguez said.

Regional airports will also be rehabilitated or new ones built to ease travel across the country’s three island groups, while in Mindanao a 2,000-km railway that will connect its key cities and boost the economies of the country’s poor regions is also in the pipeline, he said.

“I am well aware that the congestion at the ports imposed heavy costs on our manufacturers, especially those whose competitiveness depends on just-in-time deliveries of both raw materials and finished products,” Dominguez said.

“The congestion is both an infrastructure and administrative problem. As we upgrade our port infrastructure, we should also remove unnecessary procedural hindrances to the flow of goods,” he added.

While the government plans to invest more outside Mega Manila, Dominguez said it will also address the congestion in the country’s premier urban hub through projects such as the Mega Manila Subway, almost a dozen more bridges across Pasig River and the development of Clark Green City to attract businesses and people out of the Mega Manila area.

“When I said we will start these projects, we do not mean just bidding out projects, signing contracts or attending opening ceremonies. In this administration, ‘start’ means groundbreaking and actual construction. We will no longer tolerate the wishy-washy promises that implementing agencies have been accustomed to making in the past,” Dominguez said.

“You can count on this administration to be aggressive in building these infrastructure,” he added.

Besides focusing on infrastructure, Dominguez said the Duterte administration is also committed to address other factors that have made the Philippine economy unattractive to investments, such as its high energy costs, restrictive economic policies, corruption and uncertainty over contracts.

“In a word, increasing investments in our economy requires an all-rounded strategy. It requires both adept and far-sighted governance as well as a dynamic private sector that is always ready to seize opportunities offered by the market,” Dominguez said.

“The key to this strategy is to bring up the quality of our infrastructure backbone to match those of our neighbors. We need to invest in training our labor force and in strengthening our human capital. In the comprehensive tax reform package we submitted to Congress, we are seeking to align our income tax rates with those prevailing in the region. Exceedingly high tax rates are a disincentive to investments,” he added.

17 March 2107
By Angela Celis