Source: Business Mirror
THE Aquino Administration’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Projects are expected to take off after Philippines-based contractors and their Chinese counterpart recently inked a memorandum of understanding that will pave the way for joint ventures in several infrastructure projects.
Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson said the China International Contractors Association and the Philippine Constructors Association Inc. sealed the pact at the Second International Infrastructure Investment and Construction Forum held recently in Beijing, China.
This developed as a government and private-sector delegation from the Chinese city of Guangzhuo, are scheduled to arrive in Manila this weekend to explore business opportunities with Filipino businessmen.
Francis Chua, president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), said the 146-strong delegation will arrive on Sunday and will be at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Hotel on Monday for the Manila-Guangzhou Trade and Investment Conference.
“There will be a product and industries promotion, business matching, and the Manila-Guangzhuo Business Council will be formed. After the conference, the Chinese businessmen are free to go to any place in the country to look for opportunities and the council will make sure there is a follow-through,” Chua said.
Some 300 Filipino business executives and entrepreneurs representing PCCI members and various business organizations nationwide are expected to attend the conference.
In the same forum, Singson invited investors to pour in their money in the Philippines, specifically in major transport infrastructure development that include roads, airports, seaports and rail projects worth about $12 billion.
“We invite you to consider these opportunities and other investment opportunities in the Philippines,” Singson stressed.
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) was among the government agencies blamed for the slower growth of the economy during the first quarter after it failed to spend its budget allocation for the said period.
The Department of Budget and Management released half of the P1.645-trillion General Appropriations Act of 2011 during the early part of the first quarter with the aim of spurring economic activities in the country through government’s infrastructure projects.
However, the departments and agencies tasked to implement infrastructure projects, led by the DPWH, failed to jump-start the projects because of several revisions done in the budget of each project in an effort to book savings for the government.
The Aquino administration was mainly capitalizing on the PPP Projects, which were originally expected to take off within the first quarter of the year.
Based on the government’s original plan, the bidding process for the P6.3-billion Metro Rail Transit Line 3 expansion, the first project lined up for the year would be by end-March. However, this was moved to July, or within the third quarter of the year.
Under the PPP Program, among the key road projects open for investments are the 4.8-kilometer Naia Expressway; the 4-km road linking Daang Hari Road to South Luzon Expressway Slex; the 13.4-km road linking North Luzon and Slex; the 43.6-km Circumferential Road 6, or C-6, Flood Control Road Dike Expressway; the 50-km C-6 Expressway and Global Link; the 27.5-km Cavite-Laguna, or Cala Expressway (Cavite Side); and the 14.3-km Cala Expressway (Laguna Side).
Under the finance, design, build-and-transfer mode, the government also intends to build 10,000 to 20,000 school classrooms nationwide.
Chua said among the industries to be represented are automotive, motorcycles, hotels and related services, textile, fishery, electronics and pharmaceuticals.
On the Chinese side, top officials from the Guangdong Provincial and Guangzhou Municipal Government, CCP Guangzhou Municipal Committee, Guangzhou economic and business leaders and embassy officials will attend.
“We expect to have contract-signing for cooperation in a wide range of areas,” Chua said.
