Japanese team here for PPP partnership

CEBU, Philippines - A team from Asia Public/Private Partnership Institute (APPPI) of Toyo University in Japan is in Cebu to study possibilities and opportunities of socio-economic development that can be undertaken under public-private partnership scheme.

APPPI director Sam Tabuchi said they would come up with recommen-dations and proposals on possible projects to be undertaken.

He pointed out disaster preparedness as one of three main subjects that they will be working on, considering that the province had experienced devastating calamities such as the magnitude 7.2 earthquake in October 2013 and the supertyphoon Yolanda in November of the same year.

Other areas to be explored by the team are health services and urban issues such as flood, trash and transportation.

“(We will study these) as well as the properties in this island which are untapped and unused. How can we make use of such properties for economical opportunities for Cebu,” Tabuchi told reporters, saying it was their first time to work with the Cebu province.

 Tabuchi had conferred with Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide during the latter’s six-day trip to Saitama Prefecture in Japan February last year.

Davide, who invited the team, mentioned during that meeting with the Saitama and APPPI executives the proposed projects in the province, including the P50-billion Trans-Axial Highway from Santander to Daanbantayan and the upgrading of the province-run hospitals and health facilities.

 The APPPI team will be staying in Cebu for a week for the study.

“We will be interviewing, visiting all those involved in the issues to try to understand what is going on so we can formulate better solution,” Tabuchi said.

Tabuchi, together with team leader Adachi Hiroaki of the APPPI, visited the Capitol yesterday but Davide was in Manila until tomorrow for an official business.

However, they were welcomed by Provincial Administrator Mark Tolentino.

According to its official website, APPPI was established in 2011 “to foster and enhance development of Asian economy through PPP.”

Its main activities are educational training and project support for local and national governments.  (FREEMAN)