ADB offers advisory services on PPP projects

The Asian Development Bank ( ADB) is keen on advising the Philippines on other Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects in the transport and water sector, areas that need standard business models.

While the Manila-based lender sees no restriction in providing technical advisory service to governments in other sectors, the Southeast Asian region expects big demand of PPP in transport, ADB Office of PPP head Ryuichi Kaga said in an interview.

“[For the] Philippines, I think, most needed are in transport and other developments like water [projects],” he said.

This is because the Philippines, Kaga noted, has studied the public-private participation in the energy sector since 1990.

“So the business model in the energy sector in the Philippines is already there. I think they don’t need transaction adviser for new business model,” the ADB official said.

What the country needs, according to Kaga, is a concrete business model for transport and water project.

“We are keen on advising in other Philippine transport projects like railway, subway along EDSA. But we have not discussed this with [the Department of Transportation and Communication], PPP Center,” he said.

Just this week, the DOTC bared its plans to launch a bus rapid transit (BRT) along EDSA in a bid to decongest traffic.

In March 2014, the government agency unveiled the P135-billion subway project between the Makati central business district and Pasay City.

Kaga said these projects show the support of the Aquino administration for its flaship PPP program.

“We believe this program is so important to the Philippines, even the new administration will be very supportive of this. It is essential to the Filipino public,” the ADB official said.

But what is critical right now is improving on the government’s bidding process.

“In the past history of the Philippines, once new admin comes up, the transactions with concessions will be all reviewed, sometimes revoked, in many cases, because of bidding process,” he said.

“That’s why we are here. ADB will help in bidding process, we can make it transparent,” he added.

On Friday, the ADB announced that it is providing its first ever transaction advisory service to the Philippines for the P170.7-billion North-South Railway Project (NSRP), the country’s largest Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project to date.

The service will come from the ADB’s Office of PPP, recently formed ( in September 2014) to provide independent advice to a government agency of its members on specific deals to ensure delivery of bankable transaction via PPP.