Japan okays $10-million grant for PPP studies

MANILA, Philippines - The program of the Aquino administration to improve the country’s infrastructure received a boost from the Japanese government which agreed to give the Philippines a $10-million grant for the Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects.

Speaking to reporters over the weekend, Board of Investments (BOI) managing head Cristino L. Panlilio said the grant will be provided by Japan’s Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Panlilio said the $10-million grant will be used to conduct feasibility studies for potential infrastructure projects that may be included in the 2011 PPP list. He said the government is currently readying the next batch of PPP projects. The 2010 PPP list has 10 projects.

Panlilio, who is also Trade and Investments Undersecretary said a feasibility study usually costs anywhere between P2 million and P3 million. “The grant will be enough to conduct a lot of studies.

Early this month, Panlilio was in Japan to present the 2010 PPP list to potential Japanese investors in an investment forum sponsored by JICA.

There are 10 PPP projects that are ready for investment in 2011. They include infrastructure projects that are intended mainly for the improvement of the rail system, roads and airports.

The biggest is the expansion of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) and the Light Rail Transit (LRT) which is estimated to cost P70 billion.

This is followed by the North Luzon Exressway and the South Luzon Expressway Link which has a projected cost of P21 billion. The MRT Line 2 has an estimated cost of P11.3 billion while the CALA Expressway has an estimated cost of P10.5 billion.

The other projects are the Panglao Airport worth P7.5 billion, the Puerto Prinsesa Airport worth P4.36 billion and the Daraga International Airport worth P3 billion. Projects which do not have costs yet but are part of the list are the Development of City Terminal for the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA), the privatization of the Laguindingan Airport Operation and Maintenance and the Supply of Treated Bulk Water for Metro Manila.