WB sets sights on PPP shortlist

MANILA, Philippines - The World Bank is prepared to finance various projects under the much-touted Public-Private Partnership (PPP) scheme rolled out by the Aquino administration, World Bank Country Director for the Philippines Bert Hofman said.

In a recent interview with The STAR, Hofman said the multilateral agency is particularly interested in providing counterpart guarantee for the different projects.

“We can actually pay for the guarantee,” he said.

Hofman said the multilateral agency is willing to provide financing for two major projects such as the Cavite-Laguna (Cala) Expressway. This project will link the Manila-Cavite Coastal Road with the South Luzon Expressway.

The 27.5-kilometer Cala Expressway hopes to decongest the traffic in Cavite and provide access among the different economic zones covering the two areas.

“We are interested in the Cala project and in the LRT (Light Rail Transit),” Hofman noted.

For the LRT, the Aquino administration hopes to bid out the privatization of LRT Line 1 operation and management. Another project is the extension project of LRT 1 which involves the construction of an 11.7-kilometer extension, to be implemented from 2011 to 2015. The government is also planning an extension of LRT Line a2 East under which there will be a four-kilometer railway system to be constructed during the period 2011 to 2014.

Hofman, who attended the two-day PPP for infrastructure conference last week, said that the government presented clear plans for the different projects.

“We saw very clear and credible plans,” he said.

The Aquino administration opened the PPP conference last week, attracting at least 500 local and foreign fund managers and investors. It hopes to bid out at least 10 infrastructure projects starting next year and help provide enough fiscal space for the government to be able to contain its widening budget gap.

The Aquino administration is staring at a widening budget gap of P325 billion this year or 3.9 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). It hopes to be able to attract private sector investments in infrastructure so that it could use its meager resources for other expenditures such as education and public health.