NEDA pushes infra projects to attract investments

The government is pushing its infrastructure projects in order to attract businessmen to invest in the country, the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) said.

"We are bent on putting in place both hard and soft infrastructure to create results in key areas that will boost the country’s competitiveness and achieve its large-scale development goals," NEDA director general Romulo L. Neri said. 

Neri defined hard infrastructure as airports, seaports, roads and power plants while soft infrastructure are policy frameworks that increase competition.

The hard infrastructure, Neri said, is expected to increase agricultural productivity, trade, tourism, industry and services sector.

"The government’s vision is to build a seamless, cost-effective, modern infrastructure network throughout the country," he explained.

In fact, he said the current administration’s thrust is to implement the key infrastructure projects enumerated in President Arroyo’s state of the nation address last July.

Soft infrastructures, meanwhile, eases regulatory environment that promotes productivity and competitive costs. 

For example, Neri said the regulation that declared open skies in Clark Airbase has resulted in healthier tourism with some 500,000 tourists visiting in 2005.

"Today, there is potential to bring in one to two million tourists a year if we further liberalize our airline industry," he said. 

For the power sector, instituting favorable policies and incentive packages for industry participants is being pursued particularly in developing the local biofuels industry and in promoting accelerated exploration, development and utilization of indigenous and renewable energy resources, Neri said.