NEW Zealand business groups were invited to participate in big-ticket transport infrastructure projects in the Philippines.
Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista made the call during the Philippines-New Zealand Business Council General Membership Meeting on Tuesday.
“These projects require massive funding. We have turned to the private sector for investment collaboration. Their keen interest manifests the projects’ financial viability while remaining primarily public service initiatives,” Secretary Bautista said during the meeting which was hosted by New Zealand Ambassador to the Philippines Peter Kell.
The transport chief pointed out that international financial institutions and other developmental partners are also funding such projects, including the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank, among others.
To entice business groups and private institutions to help build transport projects, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) is focusing on transit oriented development (TOD), which will establish transport infrastructures towards creating compact, walkable, pedestrian-oriented, mixed-used communities centered around train systems and other public transport hubs, Secretary Bautista said.
“We must understand TOD’s concept of creating walkable communities that revolve around public transport stations,” he explained.
The transport chief cited big-ticket infrastructure projects in the aviation, railway, maritime and road sectors, including the privatization of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), construction of the Bukidnon Airport, Catbalogan, Dumaguete, Tacloban and Kalibo Airport Developments, as well as the construction of the New Manila International Airport Project.
Part of the Department of Transportation’s (DOTr) improvement in sustainable mobility aspect is the expansion of bicycle lanes and pedestrian walkways, the EDSA Greenways Project, and the Cebu and Davao Bus Rapid Transits.
