MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines must provide a stable supply of electricity at low cost and build priority infrastructure projects in a bid to attract more investors to participate in the government’s public-private partnership (PPP) program.
“We believe this will really open the gate for foreign investments in the country. Otherwise, we can just be stuck somewhere. What a lost opportunity, we will not reap the fruits of PPP,” said Jose Alejandro, head of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) energy committee.
A PPP is a contractual arrangement between government and the private sector to deliver public infrastructures and/or services.
Alejandro said everyone wants to see the PPP program succeed. As the Philippine competitiveness ranking has significantly improved in various categories, he said, it is time to address the biggest challenge to competitiveness which is the inadequate supply of infrastructure.
“Bulk of these infrastructure projects addresses the (high) power cost and (stable) supply. We are all joining forces to resolve these issues,” Alejandro said in an interview.
He stressed that high electricity rates, along with currency exchange rate, are hurting local businesses and affecting their competitiveness.
“The international market is already soft. (All these trigger) fear that if we don’t control power rate increases and this continues to escalate, that can be fatal for the economy,” Alejandro said.
He cited Vietnam as an example that has recognized the importance of low electricity price and other costs of production in attracting large foreign investments.
Moreover, Alejandro said the business group is also pushing for the implementation of PPP projects crucial to bringing down power cost in the country.
He said these include the rehabilitation, operation and maintenance of the Agus-Pulangi hydropower plants in Mindanao that is expected to generate at least 150 megawatts of electricity next year.
“We want to also see the swift resolution of NAIA 3 (Ninoy Aquino International Airport) dispute. This will bring in a lot of facilities in the country,” he added.
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Source: The Philippine Star, Nov. 7, 2011
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