Aquino says PPP project evaluation needs to be ‘accelerated’

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President Aquino said there is a need to speed up the pace of evaluating big ticket infrastructure projects since these have an impact on tourism and economic growth targets, as well as social services

MANILA, Philippines – President Aquino said there is a need to speed up the pace of evaluating big ticket infrastructure projects since these have an impact on tourism and economic growth targets, as well as social services.

During the open forum at the Euromoney conference on Monday, March 27, President Aquino addressed questions about where the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) scheme is headed.

He said the target this year is to roll out 8 projects under the PPP scheme. This is lower than the promised 10 roads, airports, and ports under PPP scheme but failed to take off in 2011.

“We intend to roll out about 8 of them this year… but we want an accelerated program for the PPP program itself,” he told an audience of businessmen, analysts, investors and market participants in Makati City.

“I have instructed the economic cluster… There has to be more speed in terms of giving a thumbs up or a thumbs down to all the various projects that are under consideration. We cannot afford to think of decades upon decades. We are missing the opportunities that are already extant,” he stressed.

He highlighted the importance of the pending road networks and airports.

“There is a need to really expand our gateways and various studies are underway to determine exactly how best to achieve that. There are limitations to how much you can expand NAIA (Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila) especially given the density of the population in the surrounding areas,” he noted.
 
Nonetheless, he said tourism, which is directly affected by airport facilities and capacity, is a “low lying fruit.” His government is aiming to have 6 million tourist arrivals by 2016–and that target stays. – Rappler.com

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