Business World, 22 January 2015
By Asif Ahmad, British Ambassador to the Philippines
WHEN A Filipino businessman alights from his plane at London Heathrow in December 2018, he will be able to walk through the bright new corridors of the Queen’s Terminal, past the immigration counters to the shiny underground station beneath, where he will get on the next train to Liverpool Street Station, right to the beating heart of the City of London. Right now, taking the London Underground will keep Mr. Dela Cruz on his feet for another hour. By 2018, the completion of the $22-billion Crossrail project, running over 100km underneath Greater London, will cut that time by half.
The Crossrail project is the largest construction project in Europe. It represents Britain’s biggest contemporary infrastructure investment. Its problems and successes have created a legacy of skills learned and knowledge gained that can lay a firmer foundation for future efforts at public-private cooperation, within the UK and beyond. Now, after sharing these experiences in Thailand and Indonesia, top civil servants from Infrastructure UK (IUK) have come to the Philippines to make the case for streamlining public-private partnership (PPP) development — not just to build more bridges, but to build them with Britain.
The Philippines presents unique risks and opportunities for infrastructure development. The World Economic Forum ranks Philippine infrastructure second from the bottom in ASEAN, and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) estimates the annual economic cost of Manila traffic congestion at 11% of GDP.
Short supply has kept electricity prices higher than anywhere else in Asia even as consumption per kilowatt-hour remains dismal. The Philippine government has responded by ramping up infrastructure development and public works spending, but the gap between social necessity and financial ability remains intimidatingly wide. JICA, for one, estimates a total cost of $12 billion for its transportation “dream plan” — and that is just for Manila. There is much more to be done in the provinces too, and to connect the big towns and cities.
The work of the PPP Centre, under the leadership of Executive Director Cosette Canilao, has mobilised the resources of both the government and business, and projects are starting to get to the bidding process. The first ASEAN PPP Networking Forum was held in Manila in November last year, and the British government, through IUK, contributed to the debate. But every day, British firms like MottMacdonald, PWC and ITPWorld are on the ground in Manila and other developing cities, applying the hard-won skills and expertise developed through trial and error at home to help improve the daily quality of life of people around the world.
Within the country and with global partners, the know-how is there. Success will be driven by political will and better certainty around the legal framework.
This week, IUK landed in Manila to host a training workshop with the PPP Centre. The trip from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport to Quezon City took longer than it does to get from Heathrow to the city using the existing legacy system. The journey was both a learning opportunity as well as an indication of potential.
It is vital that the skills and dedication of experts, both public and private, British and Filipino, are used to build the quality infrastructure Filipinos have been waiting for with patience and fortitude. In time, cities in the Philippines too should see the new terminals and fast trains that are already being delivered in Britain.
I believe that British knowledge — in planning projects, drafting contracts, designing structures, and then building them — will be immensely valuable for the future of PPP development in the Philippines. Britain is fully invested in our partnership with the Philippines and in continuing to build bridges — not just across rivers or over railway lines, but between our peoples as well.
Asif Ahmad is the British Ambassador to the Philippines.
