The government will provide opportunities for the private sector in its infrastructure plans even as it has 200 ready-to-implement projects in the pipeline, including those originating from the local government, according to the Department of Finance (DOF).
Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said the private sector is welcome to invest in infrastructure development and other industries, as he reassured the public the country has the enabling business environment and ample fiscal space for key projects.
“(W)e will just provide the environment for the private sector to thrive and, of course, they are welcome to invest in the country whose growth rate potential is one of the highest in the region,” he said.
Diokno noted that President Marcos Jr. stressed in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) that infrastructure development will remain a top priority of his administration to drive employment, agriculture, tourism and overall economic growth.
“The President said that he will build on and expand the infrastructure program of the Duterte administration,” Diokno said.
In his SONA, President Marcos Jr. also identified opportunities to develop the country’s rail transport system.
The Department of Public Works and Highways released on its website a list of priority projects under public-private partnership (PPP) which include several expressways across the country.
Diokno said with the potential of the economy to grow rapidly in the near and medium terms, the government can fund the Marcos administration’s infrastructure program and sustain infrastructure spending at 5 to 6 percent of the gross domestic product.
He added structural reforms of the Duterte administration, including the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act, reinforced the country’s solid macroeconomic fundamentals, enabling the country to withstand the harsh effects of the pandemic and chart a clear path to recovery.
Diokno cited the approval of the amendments to the Public Service Act as another game-changing reform that would encourage investors to come in and implement some of the projects under the PPP arrangement.
