Philippine infra 8th of 10 in Asean

SEOUL – While being touted as the second strongest economy in Asia, the Philippines is near the bottom when it comes to quality infrastructure among the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

This was revealed during the 3rd ASEAN Connectivity Forum held here last week, which was attended by Ambassador Raul Hernandez and other ASEAN officials. The Korean government sponsored the event at the FKI Tower.

In a press kit provided to ASEAN journalists, Manila ranked eighth – ahead only of Vietnam and Myanmar – compared with other ASEAN member states in terms of overall quality of infrastructure.

Singapore topped the list, followed by Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand, Laos, Indonesia and Cambodia.

The source of information, according to the Economic Research Institute for Asean and East Asia (Eria), was the World Economic Forum Report in 2013-2014.

As for “regulatory framework” on public-private partnerships in the region, Manila was fortunately lumped with Jakarta and Bangkok in the category where there is “certainty and specific law(s).”

Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Brunei, on the other hand, had “uncertainty” and “unspecific” laws when government infrastructure projects are bidded out.

The Asean Connectivity Forum came about as the 10 member nations, with the help of Korea, wanted to introduce infrastructure projects and policy directions in the fields of transport, energy and information and communications technology.

It is a concept that envisions a well-connected Asean to bring the people, goods, services and capital together. It was adopted at the 17th Asean Summit in 2010.

The forum consisted of two sessions – the Master Plan for Asean Connectivity and secondly, Financial Solutions for Asean Connectivity – participated in by experts from the Asean secretariat, Asian Development Bank, ERIA and Korea Exim Bank.

A press release for the event disclosed that the amount of investment required for Asean infrastructure projects is the second largest in the world next to the Middle East.

Global consulting firm McKinsey projected that US$3.3 trillion in investments will be required in transport, water, energy and ICT areas in the Asean countries in the next 15 years, or until 2030.

“When the Asean Economic Community consisting of 6.4 billion people and a combined total GDP of US$2.4 trillion is established, enormous opportunities for large-scale infrastructure projects will be created,” a portion of the press release read.

“Against this backdrop, the forum will be the only venue in Korea where the latest information related to Asean Connectivity are shared and one-on-one business meetings take place,” it added.