THE Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center said its Project Development and Monitoring Facility (PDMF) Committee is expecting $30 million in technical assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) starting next year.
“Early next year we also anticipate the availability of new technical assistance with ADB, a portion of which will contribute to the PDMF. We expect around $30 million in the duration of five years,” PPP Center Deputy Executive Director Eleazar E. Ricote said at a briefing on Tuesday.
Mr. Ricote said the package is estimated to support 35 projects.
The PDMF is a revolving fund managed by the PPP Center to “enhance the investment environment for PPPs and develop a robust pipeline of viable and well-prepared PPP infrastructure projects.”
The technical assistance period runs from December 2024 to December 2029, he said.
Mr. Ricote said the scope of the grant includes consultancy services for project preparation, transaction advisory, implementation monitoring, project systems development assistance, upgrading of ICT systems infrastructure, and others.
“Apart from the ADB, we are also collaborating with other development partners to provide project-related assistance for critical infrastructure initiatives,” Mr. Ricote said.
He also noted that this year, 17 additional PPP projects involving water, education, property development, food security, health, ICT, road, and transportation have been approved by the committee.
These include project preparation and transaction advisory services for the Cavite Bulk Water Supply Project, the La Union Bulk Water Supply Project, and the Iloilo-Capiz-Aklan Expressway Project.
Some of the other projects are the Philippine Automated Fare Collection System (AFCS), Metro Rail Transit 3 and 4 O&M, Acquisition of Equipment, and O&M of the Proposed New Cebu International Container Port Project.
The Davao Public Transport Modernization Project, Poro Point Seaport Project, and the Operations and Maintenance contracts for the NAIA PPP Project, Laguindingan airport, and Bohol-Panglao Airport PPP Project are also included.
“These are on top of the 17 projects with signed technical assistance agreements under existing PMDF contracts,” Mr. Ricote said, adding that 13 of these have ongoing studies that are due to be finished by the end of 2025.
Aside from working with multilateral banks, the agency has other development partners to provide project-related assistance to implementing agencies for infrastructure initiatives.
One of these is the Japanese Ministry of Environment, which extended its assistance to the Bases Conversion and Development Authority for its sanitary landfill and Waste-to-Energy Project in New Clark City.
Mr. Ricote also noted collaboration with the Netherlands Enterprise Agency, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Infrastructure Asia, and the United Nations Development Program.
At the same briefing, PPP Executive Director Ma. Cynthia C. Hernandez tallied 175 PPP projects valued at P2.546 trillion. — Aubrey Rose A. Inosante