The Manila Times

DoTr pitches transport projects

THE Department of Transportation (DoTr) on Wednesday made a pitch to foreign investors as it seeks to drum up interest for big-ticket infrastructure transport projects of the Marcos administration.

Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista asked top officials of the European Union-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (EU-Asean) Council and European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) to invest in big-ticket infrastructure transport projects.

Bautista highlighted the added value of projects being implemented by the agency in partnership with international financial institutions, foreign governments and business groups.

Due to budgetary constraints, project financing from foreign business groups presented the most viable option to undertake these projects, according to the Transport chief.

“The biggest obstacle has always been fund-sourcing, considering the strained national budget of our government after coming out of the pandemic,” Bautista explained during informal discussions with officials of the EU-Asean Business Council and ECCP.

“We have offered various infrastructure transport projects to international financial institutions, private investors, and professional associations and industry groups,” he added.

Bautista cited the proposed privatization of the operations and management of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and New Manila International Airport as an option for private sector investment.

“Other regional airports across the country are in the pipeline for privatization,” he said.

Bautista likewise touted infrastructure projects in various transport sectors such as railways, maritime and road, including the Metro Manila Subway, NorthSouth Commuter Railway, Light Rail Transit Line 1, Cavite Extension Project, Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 7 and MRT 4.

“It’s important because they can assist us in financing the projects through PPP (public-private partnership), so we hope that the investors from their countries can be supportive of many projects of [the] DoTr. We have PPP projects for airports, rails and for roads, and for maritime,” Bautista said.

Business Times

en-ph

2023-05-25T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-05-25T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://manilatimes.pressreader.com/article/281818583199897

The Manila Times