Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is to unveil a revised list of about 100 big infrastructure projects to be launched before his term ends in 2022, after some earlier projects were found to be unfeasible, an adviser said.
“We’re redoing the entire list,” Vince Dizon, who was last month appointed as Phillipine presidential adviser for flagship programs and projects, said in an interview in Manila on Thursday.
Projects “deemed unfeasible at this time” were dropped after a review of the original 75 projects in Duterte’s US$180 billion “Build, Build, Build” program, Dizon said.
Added to the list were some unsolicited proposals and others being considered for tender under the public-private partnership program, he said.
The new list, to be unveiled by the end of the year, would include regional airports and projects in information and communications technology, water, power and urban renewal, said Dizon, who is also the president and chief executive officer of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), a government agency that converts former military bases for civilian use.
The revisions to the list underline the challenges — ranging from policy reversals to financing difficulties — in addressing urgent infrastructure needs in the Philippines and across Southeast Asia.
“The question isn’t really whether the list is longer or shorter, but rather have they addressed the root issues in de-bottlenecking infrastructure implementation?” said Euben Paracuelles, chief ASEAN economist at Nomura Holdings Inc in Singapore.
Asked how he would ensure that the revised plan is implemented, Dizon said that all projects on the list have undergone feasibility studies.
“We’ll build enough momentum so they won’t be reversed. That’s the key,” he said.
BCDA and China Gezhouba Group are to sign an agreement by the end of the year to develop a 500 hectare, mixed-use industrial park in New Clark City, a metropolis planned northwest of Manila that is to be marketed to Chinese, Japanese, Korean and US manufacturers, Dizon said.
BCDA and Banyan Tree Holdings Ltd are also soon to sign a deal to develop a resort complex in New Clark City, he said, adding that BCDA has tapped Los Angeles-based Aecom, which provides professional technical services to the US government, to study how to best make use of its land portfolio of more than 40,000 hectares.
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