A few days ago, the President of the Philippines announced a large number of infrastructure construction projects to be implemented at the National Economic Development Council, worth about 163 billion U.S. dollars, of which 123 are new infrastructure projects launched after Marcos took office, and are expected to be fully implemented in the next few years. Implemented to attract more investors, create jobs and reduce poverty rates.

Philippine President Marcos said that unlike his previous administration, which relied on foreign financing, including from China, he prefers to use private capital to fund infrastructure development and use it to accomplish his goals, namely, during his six-year term. within 2028, grow the Philippine economy by as much as 8 percent and halve the poverty rate to 9 percent.

Philippine Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said that 123 new projects out of 194 infrastructure construction projects are mainly transportation projects, including long-distance railways near the capital and central and southern Philippines, and the renovation of Manila International Airport. upgrade. There are also water infrastructure, such as irrigation and flood management, as well as projects in digital connectivity, sanitation, electricity, energy, agriculture and more.

Balisakan said that in order to speed up the above-mentioned projects, the Marcos government is vigorously promoting public-private partnerships as a financing channel. Governments should make full use of the financial and technical resources of the private sector to enable the public sector to increase investment in human capital development, especially to address the impact of the epidemic on the health and education sectors, and to provide support for vulnerable sectors that are vulnerable to economic shocks. Targeted help.

Four key railway projects

1. The Panay Island Railway project is carried out in four phases. The first phase repairs and transforms the original line with a length of 117 kilometers; the second phase builds a new line, connecting Roxas to Caticron, passing through Kalibo; the third phase builds a new line From Caticlan, Malay, Aklan to San Jose, Antique; the new line in the fourth phase is from San Jose, Antique to Iloilo City.

2. The third phase of the Mindanao Railway Project is expected to be 54.8 kilometers long, connecting Cagayan de Oro Airport to Villanueva Port.

3. The North Commuter Railway project, with a total length of about 800 kilometers, is a regional railway in northern Luzon, which will connect the National Capital Region, Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley Region and Central Luzon Region.

4. The San Mateo Railway, with a total length of 17 kilometers and 6 stations along the way, runs through Marikina, San Mateo and Rodriguez of Lizard. It will be connected to LRT Line 2 by a branch railway.

Balisakan said that of the 194 priority infrastructure projects, 95 are in progress and have been approved for implementation, 8 have been approved by the government, 47 are in the process of project preparation, and the remaining 44 are in the process of pre-project preparation.Editor/Ma Xue