The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has tapped the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Center and the International Finance Corp. (IFC) as advisors for the modernization and upgrade of several transportation projects in aviation and railway.
DOTr said under the contracts it signed on November 22 in Taguig City with the two entities, IFC will provide the DOTr transaction advisory services for the modernization and upgrade of several regional airports.
The agreement will likewise strengthen the Light Rail Transit Line (LRT) 2 in terms of its rehabilitation, expansion and operations.
“(The) designation of the IFC as transaction advisor is a significant step towards the early completion of selected projects in aviation and railways,” said DOTr Secretary Jaime Bautista in a statement.
Bautista led the signing ceremony along with PPP Center executive director Ma. Cynthia Hernandez and IFC Philippines country manager Jean-Marc Arbogast and IFC regional manager for PPP Advisory for Asia and the Pacific Thomas Lubeck.
Bautista said the private sector’s involvement in government programs adds premium to each project.
“We highly value partnering with private business in actualizing our transport projects,” he said, citing PPP projects such as the Clark International Airport , Mactan-Cebu International Airport and the LRT-1.
He added that collaborations with the private sector will enable the DOTr to extract maximum public benefits from the projects.