THE GOVERNMENT’S review of its centerpiece public-private partnership (PPP) program could result in more changes to the list of projects initially promised to investors and even to their design, economic managers said on Friday last week.
“What we want to confirm with our review is that we have the right financial arrangement in our projects,” Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima said in an interview after the Development Budget Coordination Committee meeting last Friday evening.
Partnering with private firms is one option for priority development projects, Mr. Purisima said.
Another option is for government to avail of official development loans, Mr. Purisima explained.
“We want to find the right balance for each project. The departments are undertaking the review and if their studies find that it is better to do a project through government financing, then we will do it,” he said.
The government has already finished its review of five projects, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Cayetano W. Paderanga, Jr. said separately. These “live projects” are the PPP for Classrooms project, which aims to build 10,000 classrooms, furniture and sanitation facilities for schools in Region I, III and IV-A; Vaccine Self-Sufficiency Project, which hopes to localize production of key vaccines; Daang Hari-South Luzon Expressway link (P1.96 billion); North Luzon-South Luzon expressway link (P21 billion); and Puerto Princesa airport development (P4.4 billion).
“We will bid these out as designed,” Mr. Paderanga said, adding that, for other projects, “international experts and advisers will be hired to help restructure PPP transactions.”
The review can also lead to new projects, such as modernization of the Philippine Orthopedic Center and “one or two airports,” Mr. Paderanga added.
==============================================================================
By: Diane Claire J. Jiao
Source: Business World, Oct. 9, 2011
To view the original article, click here.
Comment here