Faster NEDA approval sought for big-ticket infra projects

MANILA, Philippines — The Investment Coordination Committee- Cabinet Committee (ICC-CC) will recommend to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board measures to streamline the approval process of big-ticket infrastructure projects, the Department of Finance (DOF) said.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said the ICC would seek the approval of NEDA for a three-in-one streamlined process to reduce the processing time of infrastructure projects from the usual four to eight weeks to just one NEDA Board meeting.

“Our goal here is to speed up the approval and implementation of our flagship infrastructure projects so that we can get shovels on the ground as soon as possible,” Dominguez, who also heads the ICC-CC, said.

“We are really tightening up the procedures to speed up the processing of our projects,” he said.

Under the proposed process, Dominguez said the NEDA Board approval (as well as the confirmation of said approval), the issuance of the special presidential authority (an authority given to government officials to negotiate and sign the loan, guarantee or grant agreement for the project) and the forward obligational authority by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) would be issued simultaneously during a single NEDA Board meeting.

“Instead of having three distinct approvals after the NEDA Board, you just have it as one. Once it is approved by the NEDA Board all of these other two requirements are approved. Hopefully that will shorten the waiting period,” Dominguez said in an earlier interview.

Dominguez said the usual process is for the NEDA Board to approve a project and wait for another board meeting to act on the other requirements necessary to get the loan or grant agreement for the project signed.

“Sometimes the board meeting happens two months later and I don’t know any project that has not been confirmed, so why don’t we just approve and confirm at the same time?” he said.

Dominguez said the DOF, in coordination with the DBM, NEDA and the Office of the President, would further finetune the work processes necessary to carry out the proposed shortened approval process.

During a hearing on the DOF’s proposed 2018 budget in the Senate, Dominguez said the three-in-one process is among the steps being taken by the Duterte administration to improve the absorptive capacity of government agencies, especially those involved in the Build Build Build program.

Aside from this, he said the government is also implementing other measures to ensure that its flagship infrastructure projects are undertaken properly and on schedule.