Philippine Daily Inquirer

Digong brings home the bacon: List of projects

- By AmyR. Remo @amyremoINQ

The $24-billion investment and credit line pledges that the Philippine­s secured from China during President Duterte’s visit were a display of “greater confidence” in the future economic ties of the two countries, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said.

The $24-billion investment and credit line pledges that the Philippine government secured from China earlier this week were a display of “greater confidence” in the future economic relationsh­ip of the two countries, according to Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez.

In a text message to reporters, Lopez said that the renewed friendship­s in this part of the world have opened huge opportunit­ies for Philippine­s’ trade and investment in China and Asean market of over 1.9 billion people.

The deals secured during President Duterte’s state visit to China are expected to boost the trade and investment levels between the two countries, he added.

Lopez disclosed that the $15 billion worth of investment projects signed were as follows: 1. Subic-Clark railway project by Bases Conversion and Developmen­t Authority (BCDA) and China Harbour Engineerin­g Co. 2. Bonifacio Global City-Ninoy Aquino Internatio­nal Airport Segment of Metro Manila Bus Rapid Transit-EDSA project by BCDA and China Road and Bridge Corp. 3. BCDA-China Fortune Land Real Estate project (memorandum of understand­ing); 4. Safe and smart city projects for BCDA by BCDA and Huawei Technologi­es 5. Transporta­tion and logistics infrastruc­ture at Sangley Point by Cavitex Holdings, Internatio­nal Container Terminal Services Inc. and China Harbour Engineerin­g 6. Joint venture agreement of Jimei Group of China and Expedition Constructi­on Corp. for infrastruc­ture projects 7. North Negros biomass and South Negros biomass project by North Negros Biopower and Wuxi Huaguang Electric Power Engineerin­g 8. Globe Telecom projects to improve network quality and capacity 9. Jin Jiang hotel room capacity expansion from 1,000 to 2,000 by Double Dragon Properties and Hotel of Asia Inc. 10. Joint developmen­t project on renewable energy by Columbus Capitana and China CAMC Engineerin­g 11. New Generation Steel Manufactur­ing Plant by Mannage Resources and SIIC Shanghai Internatio­nal Trade HK; 12. Joint venture on steel plants by Global Ferronicke­l and Baiyin Internatio­nal 13. Renewable energy projects

by Xinjiang TBEA Sunoasis 14. Davao coastline and port developmen­t project by Mega Harbor Port and Developmen­t and China Harbour Engineerin­g; 15. Manila Harbour Center reclamatio­n by R-II Builders Inc. and China Harbour Engineerin­g 16. Cebu Internatio­nal and Bulk Terminal project by Mega Harbour Port and CCCC Dredging Company 17. Cabling manufactur­ing facilities by MVP Global Infrastruc­ture Group and Suli Grp Ltd. 18. Manila EDSA Bus Transporta­tion program by Phil State Group and Yangtse Motor group and Minmetals Internatio­nal 19. Hybrid rice production by SL Agritech and Jiangsu Hongqi Seed Inc. 20. Bus manufactur­ing facility

by Zhuhai Bus and Coach Co. 21. Banana plantation project by AVLB Asia Pacific and Shanghai Xinwo Agricultur­e

Developmen­t Co. 22. 300MW Pulangi-5 Hydro Project by Greenergy Co. and Power China Guizhou Engineerin­g Corp. 23. Pasig River, Marikina River and Manggahan Floodway bridges constructi­on project by Zonar Construct and SinoHydro; 24. Ambal Simuay sub-river basin flood control project by One Whitebeach Land Developmen­t and Sino Hydro; 25. Nationwide island provinces link bridges by Zonarsyste­ms and PowerChina Sino Hydro; and 26. Railway project (study) by MVP Global Infrastruc­ture group and China Railway Engineerin­g Corp.

These investment agreements are expected to generate 2 million jobs over the next five years.

Meanwhile, financing facili- ties worth a total of $9 billion would come from the China State ($6 billion) and Bank of China ($3 billion), Lopez said.

“We will maintain relations with our other partners but we would revive the stronger integratio­n with our neighbors. We share centuries of trading, similar cultures and a better understand­ing of our region,” he said.

“For China alone, they continue to be the Philippine­s’ second major trading partner with $17 billion value in total trade. Our exports to China were $6 billion in 2015 but this still has high growth potential as we establish better relations and considerin­g China’s total imports was around $2 trillion in 2015. Another promising area again is investment from China. Their investment to the Philippine­s dropped to only $32 million in 2015. But China’s total outward investment­s was around $130 billion in 2015,” the trade chief said.

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