The Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center of the Philippines announced that on May 30, 2019, the Project Development and Monitoring Facility (PDMF) Committee approved the provision of project preparation and transaction advisory support for the Agro-Industrial and Information Technology Parks Project of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) in Laguna.
The approved PDMF support for this project shall cover the following services:
- Project Feasibility Study (FS) and Project Structuring
- Preparation of Bid Documents and Assistance during PPP Bidding Process
- Assistance and Advisory until Financial Close
The project involves the development of a 70-hectare PEZA-registered Special Economic Zone (SEZ) comprised of the Agro-Industrial Park and the Information Technology Park. The project aims to play an active role in providing space for the academic community and industry with world-class facilities that support academic, research, and innovative collaboration and engagements.
Through its institutional framework, the project aims to establish a robust academe-industry partnership wherein facilities such as the Institute of Plant Breeding, BIOTECH – Philippine National Collection of Microorganism, and National Crop Protection Center, among others, will be utilized in delivering innovative products and services by working with their respective pool of experts (i.e., engineers, agriculturists, chemists, etc.). A close collaboration between UPLB and SEZ locators is seen to provide synergetic opportunities to technology development and augmentation of the labor market. The private sector partner is expected to construct, operate, and maintain infrastructure facilities, utilities, communication system, sewerage and drainage systems, garbage collection system, and other amenities.
Since 2010, seventeen (17) PPP projects with a total project cost of Php 328.67 billion have been awarded to private sector partners, twelve (12) of these projects received PDMF support. A total of thirty-seven (37) projects received PDMF support for project development, transaction advisory, and/or monitoring services.
The PDMF Committee is the approving body for project support applications to the PDMF, a revolving fund managed by the PPP Center and used to develop bankable PPP projects and ensure effective monitoring of project implementation. The service is available to all national and local government units of the Philippines.
