NEDA draws up list of PPP projects

MANILA, Philippines — The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) is drawing up a list of viable public-private partnership (PPP) projects per region as the government sees heightened private sector interest.

NEDA Undersecretary for regional development Adoracion Navarro added that interest in PPP projects is particularly strong in the Davao region.

“We at the (regional development office) are preparing something to encourage more PPPs in the regions so even if these are small projects, we will be able to present these as numerous opportunities and the private sector might find this attractive,” Navarro said last Thursday.

In the Davao region for instance, among those identified as potential PPPs were the following: construction of the Mati City agri-fishery center, establishment of cacao processing plant and cacao plantation, development of the Tagum City aquaculture complex, establishment of grains center, establishment of Tagum integrated farming and research center, construction of waste-to-energy-facility, construction of an intercity monorail and the Davao airport project.

“Those are (examples) for just one region and inputs are coming in. We hope to come up with a list for all the regions and make this available to the private sector,” she said.

The potential PPP projects are currently being identified by NEDA in cooperation with its attached agency, the PPP Center. Navarro added the government would also be seeking inputs from the private sector.

“What we would like to happen is for the business sector to look at these projects because they can determine viability,” said Navarro.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said regional projects would attract interest from the private sector if these can deliver high financial returns.

“The economic rate of return may be high but if the financial rate of return is low, it’s not going to be attractive to the private sector,” Pernia said.

Under the government’s Public Investment Plan (PIP), 4,490 infrastructure projects have been pipelined. Out of the total, 4,321 are region-specific.

The most number of projects is allotted for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) at 1,340 slated for implementation. These include connective infrastructure such as roads, bridges, irrigation and water supply.

As ARMM would now be part of the Bangsamoro region, NEDA said the infrastructure push in the region would continue as planned but other plans would be reviewed.

Out of the total number of projects, 4,095 would be government-funded, 68 would be funded via official development assistance, 39 through PPP and 227 through other sources such as private investments and funds of state-owned firms and internally generated funds of government financial institutions. Funding for the 61 remaining projects has yet to be identified.