Dominguez cites ADB’s support to infra program

FINANCE Secretary Carlos Dominguez III has underscored the strong partnership between the Philippines and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as aptly demonstrated by the institution’s full support for the “Build, Build, Build” program and other growth-friendly initiatives of the Duterte administration.

Dominguez also lauded

the ADB under the leadership of its president, Takehiko Nakao, for exploring ways of forging closer coordination with the World Bank to better respond to the needs of countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

“Thank you very much for all the support of ADB to us,” Dominguez told Nakao during a recent meeting in Manila. “We are accomplishing a lot because ADB is 100 percent behind us, especially with this assistance for the Malolos-Clark Railway Project and the secondary education support program. It is proof that the institution is very supportive of our growth.”

The ADB’s US$2.75 billion financing for the construction of a 53.1-kilometer (km) passenger railway connecting Malolos in Bulacan to the Clark International Airport (CIA) in Pampanga is the multilateral institution's single largest infrastructure investment ever here or in any other country.

Last July 11, Dominguez andADB vice presidentAhmed Saeed signed a $1.3-billion loan agreement representing the first tranche of the Bank’s loan for the Malolos-Clark Railway Project.

During the meeting on 23 July, Nakao informed Dominguez that the ADB heeded his proposal to set up an expert advisory group for digital technology within the Bank, which would prove useful in improving the way ADB delivers assistance to its member-countries. ADB has invited Dominguez to take part in its first meeting set in September.

Dominguez welcomed the ADB’s positive response to his proposal, and expressed interest in joining the first meeting of the Thematic Group. This could prove beneficial for the Philippines’ ongoing efforts to digitalize, among others, the government’s frontline services, tax collection and payment systems, as well as in tapping agricultural technology to rev up the farm and fisheries sector.