One of the Marcos administration’s commitments is to boost public-private partnerships (PPP) projects, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan reaffirmed on Tuesday.
Balisacan said at the Post-State of the Nation Address (SONA) Philippine Economic Briefing in Pasay City that the government will create and promote an enabling policy and regulatory environment conducive to investment, innovation, and high-quality job creation but to achieve these is the need to strengthen Public-Private Partnership (PPP).
“In line with this objective, we will continue to strengthen our public-private partnership or PPP framework and facilitate the efficient assessment of PPPs,” he noted.
In 2022, Balisacan, who was at the time an incoming Cabinet minister, declared that he intended to "reinvigorate" PPP initiatives during the Marcos administration.
The government presented its 194 infrastructure flagship projects (IFPs), totaling P8.2 trillion, in May. These projects include those started by previous governments.
Official development aid, with the largest portion at P4.51 trillion, private sector participation (PPP), at P2.5 trillion, and the national budget, or the General Appropriations Act, at P850.58 billion, are the main three sources of funding for the infrastructure program.
“To ensure that we remain on track to meet our goals and to recalibrate our strategies as necessary, we—NEDA, in coordination with other agencies—will monitor and evaluate the implementation of our development roadmaps,” the NEDA secretary said.
“We will likewise monitor the progress of the government’s Infrastructure Flagship Projects (IFPs) and ensure that concerned agencies take appropriate steps to resolve implementation constraints and ramp up our country’s infrastructure drive,” he added
Through a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s administration, in its first year in office, has made significant strides in leading the country to achieve a robust post-pandemic economic recovery with gross domestic product (GDP) growth averaging 7.6% in 2022 and 6.4% in the first quarter of 2023.
“To improve our economy’s competitiveness and signal our country’s openness to business, the government worked to create an investment-friendly policy environment,” Balisacan said.
