THE United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) signed last Thursday a $686,000 (about P33.25 million) grant agreement with the Philippines for technical assistance to improve mobility and traffic congestion in Metro Cebu.
Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III, Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade and USTDA Acting Director Enoh T. Ebong signed the grant at a virtual economic briefing hosted by the Philippine Embassy in Washington, DC as the Philippines and the United States mark their 75th anniversary of bilateral relations this year.
In his remarks, Dominguez said the grant from the USTDA will help the government identify the physical improvement and equipment required to enhance the “logistical backbone of the region.”
Dominguez added the grant aims to fully examine the technical, financial, environmental and other critical aspects of the proposed intelligent transportation system for the Cebu metropolitan area.
“Improvement of the transportation system in Metro Cebu is part of our ‘Build, Build, Build’ program,” he said. “The development of this project shows our commitment to maintain the pace of our infrastructure modernization program to hasten our economic recovery.”
Dominguez also said the technical assistance to be provided by the USTDA under this project will help the country shift rapidly into the new digital economy.
“We can learn from the existing and emerging technologies developed by American experts to effectively deploy intelligent transportation systems in order to make our roads safer and less congested,” he said.
Image credits: Alexey Kornylyev | Dreamstime.com
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