Infra development to help drive Philippine economy

Infrastructure development is fast becoming the growth driver for the Philippine economy, the country's top finance official told potential investors in Hong Kong, the Department of Finance said Tuesday in a report from GMA News.

"Increasingly, with fiscal space that we're devoting to infrastructure, it will be a driver for growth," Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima told participants at the Philippine Infrastructure and Public-Private Partnership Roadshow last week.

The government is giving attention to infrastructure to catch up with neighbors and address challenges arising from the climate change.

The Philippines is estimated to require at least $125 billion in infrastructure investments, Purisima noted.

"My own estimate is that it's more because to be connected to the world, to be part of global supply chains and tourist networks, you must have world class infrastructure. Ports, airports, everything," he added.

Infrastructure spending is inevitable in facilitating the movement of people and goods more efficiently in an archipelago like the Philippines, Cabinet official noted.

"This is something that we cannot avoid and therefore I'd like to look at it not as a cost but as an investment in the future, an opportunity to further the growth of the country to an even higher level," Purisima said.

Apart from infrastructure development, Purisima trumpeted the Philippines as an emerging hub for tourism, medical tourism and logistics in Asia. The roadshow was organized by the British government.