Of the current 75 flagship projects under the Duterte administration, more than half are expected to be completed by 2022, according to NEDA.
More than half of the flagship projects of the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte are expected to be completed before the chief executive steps down from office in 2022.
The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), the government’s economic planning agency, disclosed this announcement earlier and noted that most of these projects are already in the implementation stage and on track for completion on their targeted dates.
Jonathan Uy, Undersecretary for Investment Programming of the National Economic Development Authority, told reporters recently during a media briefing that 44 of the 75 flagship projects of the current administration, which include airports, an international container port, and major bridges spread across the country, are in various phases of implementation as of the end of October this year. These flagship projects, according to the NEDA undersecretary, are either at the detailed engineering and development stage; undergoing budgeting and funding; the procurement of materials are being finalized, or construction has already started.
As of October this year, 56 projects are already under development. As of October this year, only 24 of those projects were under development. However, Uy said 32 projects have been graduated beyond development and are now under implementation, under budgeting, funding, DED (detailed engineering and development) stage, procurement and construction. From 19 in June 2017, we now have 44 projects undergoing implementation.”
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and Neda Director General Ernesto M. Pernia told reporters during his year-end briefing that at least 35 out of the 75 infrastructure flagship projects under the current administration have already been approved by the Investment Coordination Committee of NEDA and confirmed by the NEDA Board as of November 2018. The total investment requirements of these projects amount to Php1.54 trillion, Pernia added, noting that 31 flagship projects are likewise expected to be approved by the NEDA Board upon the recommendation of the Investment Coordination Committee. The NEDA chief is confident that these 31 projects will be completed by 2022 or even before President Duterte steps down from his post.
However, since the remaining 44 flagship projects would only begin their implementation phase during the current administration’s term, Pernia expects these projects to nonetheless be completed after the Duterte administration ends its term.
“The government is making definite progress in its massive infrastructure program, we all know as ‘Build, Build, Build.’ We are certain that the government’s efforts will pay off and we will see improvements in the state of the country’s infrastructure over the medium-term,” the NEDA chief said.
Pernia was likewise upbeat in pointing out that the economic internal rate of return or EIRR of some of the current administration’s flagship projects has passed the so-called social discount rate of 10 percent. The EIRR is used by NEDA and other concerned government agencies to measure and forecast the economic viability of these flagship projects.
The NEDA chief noted that the EIRR of some of the key flagship projects ranges from 12.2 percent to over 21 percent. For instance, the EIRR of the Mindanao Railway flagship project was computed at 12.2 percent while the Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge has an EIRR of 16.1 percent. The EIRR of the New Cebu International Container Port is pegged at 20.1 percent while the Panguil Bay Bridge Project, which aims to connect Tangub City in Misamis Occidental and Tubod in Lanao del Norte, has an EIRR of 21.4 percent.
Another flagship project that has passed the hurdle rate is the Clark International Airport Expansion project, which has an EIRR of 20.6 percent, according to Pernia.
The administration of President Rodrigo Duterte and his team of economic managers and advisers are hoping to fast-track as many flagship projects as they could to help alleviate poverty in the country, create and provide thousands of jobs in a range of industry sectors, generate more local and foreign investments in key sectors and industries, and improve various infrastructure projects that would make doing business in the Philippines and investing in several industries easier and more efficient.
NEDA is the lead economic planning agency that coordinates with other government agencies in implementing these flagship projects. Among the other government departments involved in these projects include the Department of Public Works and Highways, the Department of Transportation and Communication, and the Department of Trade and Industry.
Source: Business Mirror
