Revised JV guidelines out in May

MANILA, Philippines – The National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) expects that the government’s revised Joint Venture guidelines will be released within the month. 

NEDA Deputy Director General Rolando Tungpalan explained that a Joint Venture (JV) is another track by which the private sector can partner with the government to undertake a government project. The most popular routes include build-operate-transfer (BOT) and its permutations.

The JV guidelines was recently revised by the Infrastructure Committee. Bulk of the changes is on the requirement that all JV projects will now go through the NEDA Investment Coordination Committee (ICC). 

Initially, under the Arroyo administration, agencies can enter into JVs with various private parties without submitting projects for evaluation and approval of the NEDA ICC. 

Under the original JV guidelines that was drafted and approved by the NEDA, all JV projects were supposed to be evaluated by the ICC for transparency. However, former President Gloria Arroyo had this provision removed to hasten project approval and implementation.

Former NEDA Director General Cayetano Paderanga Jr. earlier said mandating all JV projects to pass through the NEDA ICC approval process will ensure transparency, consistency in development policy decision, and appropriateness of risk allocation among parties.

Under a JV, the government may enter into a partnership with the government on a project where its maximum equity is 49% while the private sector will take the remaining 51%.

This is different from the Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) because the PPPs are based on the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Law where the public and private sectors can partner via BOT, Build Operate Own and Transfer (BOOT), Build Lease Transfer (BLT), and other modes specified in the law. – Rappler.com