The Philippines and China have affirmed their commitment to speed up the preparation and processes needed to ensure the timely implementation of the Philippines’ flagship infrastructure projects with the financial support of the mainland.
In a meeting in Beijing with China’s State Councilor and Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi on August 22, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said preparations for the projects to be implemented by the Philippines in cooperation with China “have already been moving quite fast ahead,” particularly the South Long Haul Manila-Bicol Railway and the Clark-Subic Railway projects.
Subic-Clark Railway Project
The Subic-Clark Railway Project is a 71.13-kilometer railway that will connect Subic Bay Freeport Zone and Clark Freeport Zone in order to support current industrial activities and the potential demand for freight services along the Subic-Clark corridor. The project will cost P50 billion, of which P42.5 billion will be financed through official development assistance (ODA) from China and P7.5 billion through local funds.
This project is seen to help decongest Metro Manila traffic, provide infrastructure for the Metro Luzon Urban Beltway, and spur the development of a freight railway system for Luzon.
The South Long Haul, meanwhile, is a 581-kilometer, standard-gauge railway from Manila to Legazpi, Matnog, and Batangas City. The railway will connect cities, international seaports, and economic zones, allowing for faster transportation of passengers and freight.
“Under the guidance of President (Rodrigo) Duterte, we have been working very hard to achieve both the goals of President Duterte and President Xi Jinping in the development of the relationship between China and the Philippines,” Dominguez said during the meeting.
Wang, for his part, said that “what is needed now (are) specific and concrete actions to move forward (our) practical cooperation across the board.”
“What I hope you and our other friends sitting here today will do is to have more communication with your counterparts so that jointly, we can fully tap the potential of our cooperation,” Wang said.
DOF in a statement said a Philippine interagency task force has been meeting regularly for several months now to closely monitor the preparation and processing of the country’s flagship infrastructure projects that are being rolled out with funding support from China so as to swiftly address challenges and concerns in implementing such projects.
During a high-level meeting with Chinese officials led by Commerce Minister Zhong Shan in Beijing on August 23, Dominguez said the China Projects Task Force, which was created in April this year, “has been effective in monitoring and facilitating the preparation and implementation” of projects proposed for China’s official development assistance (ODA) financing.
Dominguez said the Philippines also welcomes the creation of the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) as one of the reforms announced during China’s 13th National People’s Congress (NPC) last March 2018.
CIDCA, which is directly under China’s State Council, is the lead agency that provides government concessional loan financing.
“We look forward to working with them,” Dominguez said.
Net foreign direct investment (FDI) from China for the period January-May 2018 registered a 534% increase over the net FDI from that country for the whole of 2017. Total approved investments from China, meanwhile, grew by 57.14% over the previous year.
Bilateral trade with China has also increased since 2017, with total trade between the two countries reaching $13.9 billion in the first half of 2018.
The number of Chinese tourists entering the Philippines hit almost one million in 2017. The Philippines’ target for 2018 is to bring in 1.5 million tourists from China.
