The Luzon Economic Corridor is attracting the interest of other countries which can fasttrack the development of the various components of the project, including the railway which will cost $7 billion.
Frederick Go, secretary of the Office of the Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs, said yesterday while the United States and Japan are the initial proponents of the Corridor, other G7 countries like the United Kingdom can come on board directly to join the development
As it is, G7 countries composed of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the UK support the project.
The Luzon Economic Corridor is the first project of its kind in the Indo-Pacific region under the US-initiated Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, which is being spearheaded by G7 nations to fund infrastructure projects in developing nations.
Go said the US, Japan and other countries can seek investments from both government and private corporations to invest in the corridor.
“When we say invest in that corridor, we’re not just talking about the rail, we’re talking about everything that goes around it – the infrastructure, businesses, shipbuilding, (logistics such as) the Fedex facility …things like semiconductor, data centers,” Go said on the sidelines of a forum organized by the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines in Intramural, Manila.
Go considers the rail component as a major project as it will connect all of the four ports – Subic Bay, Clark, Manila, and Batangas – which account for 80 percent of cargo volume w of the country
The rail also is a major project as this will connect four big ports that represent 80 percent of cargo traffic in the country.
