Government to issue infra bonds for PPP projects

MANILA, Philippines - The government is set to issue bonds that will be called Philippine Infrastructure Development Fund to finance some projects under the public private partnership (PPP) program, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said.

The National Development Co. (NDC), an agency attached to the DTI, said they are still working on how much money to raise and when to do it.

“We do not want to issue the bond too quickly because it is debt that the government has to pay,” Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo said.

Domingo said the government needs to fund some of the PPP projects. “It is up to the government to initiate some of the projects up to a state where it is ready to be turned over to the private sector.”

Earlier, the government said it expects P348.5 billion worth of investments in the power sector under the PPP.

Board of Investments (BOI) managing head Cristino L. Panlilio said that for 2012 and beyond they are considering 43 new projects in the power sector with a combined worth of P348.5 billion.

Panlilio said there are 28 projects that require P263.5 billion in investments that are up for competitive selection. He said that for 2012, 73 projects have been identified for PPP.

For 2010, the PPP projects are centered in three sectors. These are tourism, agri-business and renewable energy. In the tourism sector the projects are – the MRT, LRT Expansion worth $1.56 billion; LRT Line 2 East Extension worth $251 million; Puerto Princesa Airport worth $97 million and New Bohol Airport worth $168 million.

In the agribusiness sector, the two projects are Kabulnan two Multipurpose Irrigation and Power Project worth $319 million and the Logistics Support on the Agri-Fishery Products Supply Chain worth $33 million. There are three renewable energy projects, the Wind Farm Power Project worth $125 million, the Northwind Pamplona Project worth $75 million and the Northwind Aparri Project worth $100 million.

Panlilio said it is important to fast track the implementation of PPP programs and projects that will focus on infrastructure support facilities for tourism, agriculture, social services and growth center.

In line with this, he said President Aquino has directed the reorganization and renaming of the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Center into the PPP Center as part of an effort to accelerate the financing, construction and operation of key government PPP infrastructure projects.