NEDA to draw up list of infra projects for Chinese investment

MANILA, Philippines – In a bid to speed up infrastructure plans, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) will draw up a list of projects that could be built by China as part of its pledge for increased investment.

“We will be submitting in a week’s or two weeks’ time, an indicative list of projects for which we would like to work with China, including those that require feasibility studies or capital assistance, so even public-private partnership (PPP) projects,” said NEDA Undersecretary Rolando Tungpalan on the sidelines of the PFIC Global Investment Forum on Tuesday, November 22.

“We’re clearing up the list to make sure those are good projects that we would like China to help us with and some of that can be either co-financed with the Asian Development Bank and World Bank, because there may be large investments that are too big to chew for one developing partner,” he added.

The list could include projects beyond what was discussed during President Rodrigo Duterte’s recent state visit to China.

Last week, economic officials including Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III and Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar, along with Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, also met with officials of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s chief planning and strategy agency.

Both sides agreed to hold an investors’ conference sometime next year to discuss possible projects, after the Philippine government submits its proposed ventures which are seen to benefit the most from Chinese technology and expertise.

Not business as usual

Tungpalan noted that he had another meeting with a Chinese delegation where he was told that the Hong Kong-Macau bridge, the longest in the world, was built in only 3 years.

“I could imagine that with this ambitious infrastructure program, if you do it right, we need not go for [a] business-as-usual implementation period of 5, 7, or even sometimes even 10 years,” he said.

Last week, the NEDA Board also approved a set of guidelines for obtaining Chinese investment. These guidelines are meant to ensure that all projects to be approved by the Philippine government and its Chinese counterpart are aboveboard, amid reports that questionable Chinese firms have been considered.

“If it has already been approved by the ICC (Investment Coordination Committee), you get the Chinese side to appraise it, if they are interested in it. And in any usual appraisal, we agree on the cost, negotiate for loan agreement, then bid it out to Chinese companies,” Tungpalan said.

“More importantly, one who does the feasibility study will not bid for implementation, and we will always call for competitive Chinese companies, for eligible companies,” he added. – Rappler.com