ADB approves $100-million infra project planning loan
THE Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $100-million loan to support at least 19 infrastructure projects in the Philippines, kicking off a “huge” credit line which can be tapped for project planning and feasibility studies.
The multilateral lender announced yesterday that the new credit line for the Infrastructure Preparation and Innovation Facility (IPIF) has been approved, with the funding to be made available to the Department of Transportation and the Department of Public Works and Highways ( DPWH) in planning the country’s flagship projects.
The IPIF would essentially provide technical aid for big-ticket infrastructure projects under the “Build, Build, Build” program of the Duterte administration.
“It can be utilized for master planning, feasibility studies, detailed engineering designs — those are the main areas we expect it to be used for,” ADB Country Director Richard Bolt said in a media briefing yesterday.
“By bringing in foreign companies, we also expect this to supplement and bring in international expertise and innovation, particularly as we are looking at complex projects here.”
Mr. Bolt said the facility would allow implementing agencies to tap ADB’s procurement service to gain access to foreign consultants and experts for railways, bridges, and tunnels, to name a few.
The ADB loan’s counterpart funding is a $ 64.06- million investment from the Philippine government, plus another $ 5- million technical assistance grant earlier announced by the multilateral lender.
The IPIF is expected to generate $3.8 billion in public infrastructure investments in national roads, bridges, railways, flood control systems, and ports, which in turn will “add as much as $10 billion” to the country’s gross domestic product between 2019 to 2024.
Mr. Bolt said the Philippines has so far been on the “right track” in pursuing its ambitious infrastructure spending plan as a way to sustain rapid economic growth and address logistical bottlenecks in the archipelago.
The government plans to spend P8.44 trillion on public infrastructure projects from 2017 to 2022, to help sustain robust economic growth while improving connectivity and the ease of doing business in the Philippines.
ADB country economist Aekapol Chongvilaivan identified an initial list of 19 projects to be covered by the IPIF, with 13 projects to be implemented by the DPWH and six under the Transportation department.
These include the Philippine National Railway’s South commuter and South Long Haul lines, the Mindanao Railway, the nationwide interisland link bridges, and the Laguna Lakeshore Road Network, which are among the 75 flagship projects identified by the country’s economic managers.
Mr. Chongvilaivan, however, said that the use of IPIF funds will be “fully decided” by the Philippine government, noting that the project list “may evolve” as the infrastructure program is implemented.
The goal is to ensure “speed, quality, and flexibility” from project planning to the preparation of bid documents for these projects, he said.