DoTr Presents Transportation Projects The Manila Times

The Department of Transportation (DoTr) on Wednesday made an offer to foreign investors in a bid to boost interest in the Marcos administration’s massive transport infrastructure projects.

Transport Minister Jaime Batista has asked senior officials of the Council of the European Union-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (EU-ASEAN) and the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) to invest in major transport infrastructure projects.

Bautista emphasized the added value of projects implemented by the agency in partnership with international financial institutions, foreign governments and business groups.

According to the chief of transport, due to budgetary constraints, project financing by foreign business groups seemed the most viable option for these projects.

“The biggest hurdle has always been finding funding sources, given our government’s tight national budget post-pandemic,” Bautista explained in informal conversations with EU-ASEAN Business Council and ECCP officials.

“We have proposed various transport infrastructure projects to international financial institutions, private investors, professional associations and industry groups,” he added.

Bautista cited the proposed privatization of the operations and management of Nina Aquino International Airport and New Manila International Airport as an option for private sector investment.

“Other regional airports across the country are in the process of being privatized,” he said.

Bautista has also advertised infrastructure projects in various transportation sectors such as railroads, maritime and road transport, including Metro Manila, North-South Commuter Rail, Light Rail Transit Line 1, Cavite Expansion Project, Metro Line (MRT) 7 and MRT 4 . .

“This is important because they can help us finance projects through PPP (public-private partnership), so we hope that investors from their countries will be able to support many projects [the] DoT. We have PPP projects for airports, railways and roads, as well as for shipping,” Batista said.