The government is seeking to finance P378.89 billion worth of projects through Chinese loans, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).
The Neda told the BusinessMirror that 15 projects are being proposed for funding under China’s official development assistance (ODA). The list includes transportation, irrigation and water-supply facilities development, fish-port development and energy cooperation projects.
Apart from the loans, the Philippines has also submitted a list of 23 projects under China’s feasibility study support scheme.
“This was made following the Mofcom [Ministry of Commerce] and NDRC [National Development and Reform Commission] missions to the Philippines in November and President Rodrigo Duterte’s state visit to China in October,” the Neda said. Together with the Department of Finance, the Neda said the list of projects was submitted to NDRC and Mofcom in a letter dated November 29.
The letter was sent following the Mofcom and NDRC missions to the Philippines in November and Duterte’s state visit to China in October.
“The list will be updated upon review and approval by the Investment Coordination Committee [ICC] and the Neda Board and through ensuing bilateral/multilateral agreements between the Philippine and Chinese governments,” the Neda said.
In an interview, Neda Director General and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said the government remains confident it will have sufficient projects in the pipeline to boost infrastructure spending.
The national government aims to spend as much as P8.2 trillion to P9 trillion between 2017 and 2022. In 2017 the government will be spending P850 billion. Pernia said once these projects go through the ICC process and are approved by the Neda Board, these projects can easily be bidded out, awarded and implemented.
“Most of them are still undergoing feasibility study, but these are big projects. So if they are able to approve that by next year, all of it, that’s a lot,” Pernia said.
Earlier, in a memorandum issued last week, the Neda and the DOF said government agencies will now own the documents which should be undertaken by Chinese firms that are not blacklisted by any multilateral development agency or any international institution.
It also stated that Chinese firms undertaking these preinvestment studies will automatically be barred from undertaking the projects they studied. The memo also stated that Chinese government funding can only be secured for investment phases of projects.
These will be subject to the agreement between DOF and the Chinese government through the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Philippines.
Pernia earlier said the ICC-Cabinet committee (Cabcom) will be assigned to screen Chinese companies wanting to undertake publicly funded projects. This is already included in a draft executive order awaiting the President’s signature.
Screening companies undertaking government projects is not part of the current functions of the ICC-Cabcom. It is only tasked to evaluate publicly funded projects that cost P5 billion and up.
Pernia said the Chinese government will also create or assign its own group to act as the first level of screening for Chinese companies wanting to participate in Philippine projects.