PPP Center holds Stakeholders’ Consultation Conference

The government’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) program stakeholders and partners gathered in the first consultation conference on PPPs under the Duterte administration. The PPP Center together with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) conducted a Stakeholders’ Consultation Conference on November 25 in Makati City.

The consultation conference served as a venue for all PPP stakeholders to share ideas, experience and suggestions with the PPP Center to enable the organization to be more effective partner in pursuing infrastructure and development projects.

The event entitled “Maging Sulit-na-sulit ang PPP para sa Pilipinas” , anchored on the theme of maximizing absolute value for money in PPPs, was participated by representatives from various government agencies, development partners, private partners and other PPP stakeholders.

Executive Director Ferdinand A. Pecson stressed the importance of seeking inputs from the PPP stakeholders to further improve the Philippine PPP program.

“The government is currently reviewing the Philippine PPP program. The stakeholders’ conference is part of this initiative. It is important to consult our partners and stakeholders on how to improve the country’s current PPP processes and procedures to address the bottlenecks and challenges”, he said.

“The recommendations and suggestions from the conference will be used by the PPP Center as our guide and bases in executing new policies and strategies that will further enhance the implementation of PPPs in the country”, he added.

Meanwhile, National Economic and Development Authority Undersecretary Jose Miguel dela Rosa who delivered the keynote address during the conference re-echoed the government’s call for support to the country’s infrastructure development.

“There are a lot of infrastructure programs and projects underway, and the new administration is working doubly hard to ensure that resources are efficiently and effectively utilized,” Usec. de la Rosa said.

“We therefore hope for your continued participation and support in the government’s endeavors in infrastructure development. I would urge all of you to work with us as partners in achieving faster economic growth coupled with job creation to abruptly reduce poverty and inequality,” he added.

During the conference, a plenary session was held and the participants were then divided into four groups based on the project stages which are Project Development, Approval, Procurement, and Implementation. A breakout session was conducted to solicit new inputs and recommendations from the stakeholders in improving the government’s execution of the PPP program. These recommendations shall also serve as critical inputs to the PPP Center’s Strategic Planning Workshop in the coming weeks. The consultation conference was facilitated by the Asian Institute of Management.