The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has disclosed that its firm lending program for the Philippines may reach $3.9 billion this year.
In a briefing on Wednesday, ADB Philippines Country Director Kelly Bird told reporters that the amount would cover at least eight projects divided into the three pillars set in ADB’s Country Partnership Strategy with the Philippines.
For this year, the lending program under the pillar on Accelerating Infrastructure and Long-Term Investments amounts to $1.93 billion; Promoting Local Economic Development worth $734 million; and Investing in People at $1.2 billion.
“These are our programs, our firm programs for this year. We also have several standby projects that are still in preparation stages,” Bird said in a briefing.
The largest project is the $1.75- billion South Commuter Railway Project, which, Bird said, will be approved this year.
He added ADB aims to finalize the contracts for the project awarded by the end of this year to begin civil works next year.
Bird said the South Commuter Railway Project will be complemented by the Malolos Clark railway project that was approved in 2019.
He said the ADB approved all the civil works contracts for the project, worth $2.4 billion, in 2020. Bird said the civil works for the project would begin this year.
Another project under this pillar is the Metro Manila Bridges Project worth $180 million, which will cover the construction of three bridges around Marikina.
Under the Promoting Local Economic Development pillar, the projects are the $400-million Local Governance Reform Program; $238-million Davao Public Transport Modernization Project; and the $96-million Sustainable Palawan Tourism Development Project.
“It will [not only] focus on capacity development for marine resource management but also [on] providing [the means for] tourism enterprises to improve the competitiveness and skills training,” Bird said. “The project is designed to ensure environmentally sustainable tourism in Palawan.”
The last pillar on Investing People would include three loans worth $400 million each.
This includes the Facilitating Youth School-to-Work Transition project; Building Up Implementation and Local-Level Drivers for Universal Health Care Program; and the Heal-2 (APAX) Vaccine Project Loan.
Based on data from the ADB, around 14 projects are currently in the list of proposed projects by the Philippine government. The list already includes those in the firm lending pipeline for this year.
Other projects in the list include the $50-million Baguio Urban Sanitation Improvement Project; $100- million City Disaster Insurance Pool Project; $400-million Integrated Flood Risk Management Sector Project; and $100-million Supporting Innovation in Philippines Technical and Vocational Education Training System, among others.
There are also regional projects that include the Philippines such as the Building Coastal Resilience through Nature-Based and Integrated Solutions, which will provide technical assistance to 13 countries and the Strengthening Public Financial Management in Timor-Leste and Selected Countries of Association of Southeast Asian Nations, among others.
Read full article on BusinessMirror