Gwen invites investors for trans-axial highway

Governor Gwendolyn Garcia has invited foreign financial institutions to invest in a joint venture with the provincial government on a Trans-Axial Highway, a backbone highway that aims to connect the southernmost tip part of Cebu to its northernmost tip that is expected to spur economic development in the peripheries.

First proposed by Vice Governor Gregorio Sanchez last year, the proposal did not seem to be getting anywhere until Garcia broached the topic before foreign delegates representing government leaders of 36 countries, leading financial institutions, business magnates throughout the world during the Asia Pacific Infrastructure Congress organized by Euromoney Conferences in Hong Kong from September 5 to 6.

In her speech on infrastructure investment in Cebu, the governor included the proposed construction of a 300-kilometer trans-axial highway that will span from the northernmost tip to the southernmost portion in the peripherals of Cebu -a project that will make Cebu "an even bigger market for goods, services and investments".

At least two foreign financial institutions approached the governor right after she delivered her speech.

United Engineers of Malaysia senior director Tan Yee Sin promised the governor they will send a team to Cebu to study various aspects on the possibility of investing in the said project under the Build-Transfer-Operate scheme.

Another interested foreign investor is the Macquaire Securities (Asia) Pte Limited in Singapore. - Cristina C. Birondo/BRP