Manila Bulletin, 21 October 2011
MANILA, Philippines — The government has approved the provisional guidelines on the use of an estimated P550-million revolving fund to help generate a pipeline of viable and well-prepared projects for bidding under the public-private partnership (PPP) mode.
PPP Center Executive Director Cosette Canilao said that with the approved guidelines by the Project Development and Monitoring Facility (PDMF) board, the PPP Center is now ready to receive applications from government agencies for funding project preparation in sectors identified as priority under the Philippine Medium-Term Development Plan 2011- 2016.
PDMF will finance pre-investment studies, including pre-feasibility studies, feasibility studies, preparation of tender documents, draft contracts, bidding processes and contract negotiations to bid award stage. It affords project proponents with transaction advisory services to ensure that competitive and transparent processes are observed.
With the PDMF onstream, it anticipates an invigorated national PPP program to fast-track the building of needed infrastructure and the offering of awaited quality services to uplift the lives of Filipinos across all sectors through inclusive growth.
PPP Center Executive Director Canilao said: “The PDMF financing pool will allow for the implementation of the right projects that will serve the needs of the people and at the same time, be undertaken at the least cost to government. While we advocate this, we recognize that our projects should be attractive to our investors.”
The facility was set up under Executive Order No. 8 and was initially provided P300 million by the government. Development partner agencies led by the Asian Development Bank, Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) have provided support to the PPP Center to strengthen its capacity as the government’s focal unit on PPPs.
AusAID, through ADB, provided additional funding of US$6 million to PDMF that augmented P300 million allocated by the government.
“We are glad to support the Government of the Philippines in setting up a sustainable and transparent mechanism for preparing bankable PPP projects for bidding. The establishment of the PDMF board, approval of PDMF guidelines, and establishment of a panel of world-class transaction advisors for fast mobilization for PPP project development show the continuous commitment of the government in strengthening the solicited mode of doing PPPs,” said ADB country director Neeraj Jain. (EHL)
