RP likely to get investments for BPO sector from Noy's US trip

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is confident that the government will be able to secure investment commitments from the infrastructure, business process outsourcing (BPO), call center and information technology (IT) sector from President Aquino’s US trip.

Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo, who is part of the presidential delegation, said that they will be meeting with a number of business leaders.

 “We would like to drum up the business interest for the Philippines. We want to get commitments from the infrastructure, BPO, call center and IT sectors,” Domingo said.

Earlier, DTI said that the contingent will bring the list of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects in order to look for possible American investors.

The government has released the top 10 PPP projects with a combined worth of more than P127.78 billion. The infrastructure projects were mainly for the improvement of the rail system, roads and airports.

The biggest project is for the expansion project of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) and the Light Rail Transit (LRT) which has a projected cost of P70 billion.

This is followed by the North Luzon Exressway and the South Luzon Expressway Link which has a projected cost of P21 billion. The MRT Line 2 has an estimated cost of P11.3 billion while the CALA Expressway has an estimated cost of P10.5 billion.

The other projects are the Panglao Airport worth P7.5 billion, the Puerto Prinsesa Airport worth P4.36 billion and the Daraga International Airport worth P3 billion. Projects which do not have costs yet but are part of the list are the Development of City Terminal for the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA), the privatization of the Laguindingan Airport Operation and Maintenance and the Supply of Treated Bulk Water for Metro Manila.

The biggest project, the MRT LRT expansion project aims to integrate and expand the capacity of existing MRT 3 and LRTA railway lines. It involves the extension of the existing 15 kilometer LRTA Line 1 system to Bacoor Cavite by an additional 11.7 km. This also includes eight passenger stations with provision for two additional stations.

The MRT Line two involves the construction of a four km eastern extension of MRT Line two from Santolan in Pasig to Masinag Junction in Antipolo. The project aims to expand the exisiting LRTA rail transport services of MRT Line two for the benefit of passengers coming from Marikina, Cainta and Antipolo.

The Panglao Airport on the other hand involves the construction of a new airport with international standards. The Puerto Princesa Airport will also be rehabilitated in order to meet the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). This will be done through the construction of passenger terminal building, control tower, cargo terminal and other land side facilities. The third airport project is the privatization of Laguindingan Airport.