Government finance and economic leaders from the United States and Japan recently met with Philippine counterparts in Manila to seal their commitments to fast-track the Luzon Economic Corridor project.
Special Assistant to the President (SAP) for Investment and Economic Affairs Frederick D. Go spearheaded the Philippine delegation which included officials of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Energy, Department of Transportation, Department of Finance and the Department of Foreign Affairs.
The Philippine team presented a list of 28 priority projects in the areas of infrastructure development, electronics and semiconductors, food production and storage, renewable energy sourcing, among others, which presented opportunities for investment and development along the corridor, which will connect Luzon’s key economic hubs: Subic Bay, Clark, Manila, and Batangas.
“We welcome all the support on developing the Luzon Economic Corridor. We hope to see tangible and concrete results at the soonest possible time,” Go said.
The formation of the Steering Committee is the result of the Trilateral Leaders’ commitment in April to develop the Luzon Economic Corridor under the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGI) Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) Investment Accelerator.
“We in the United States side represent the different agencies that will all be significant piece of making this a reality from our side,” Senior Advisor to the US President for Energy and Investment Amos Hochstein said.
He likewise cited the establishment of a local office of the US International Development Finance Corporation as clear proof of the American government’s supportive stanceon the ambitious development.
“We’re here. The US side is represented, for this effort, by the Eximbank, USIDFCA, the USAID, the TDA, and Department of Commerce and Department of State, so I think we’re trying to bring the whole breadth of the US government to this effort,” he added.
“We are very excited to open an office here in Manila and in a few months we are going here. (Our) continuous presence here will allow us to coordinate much purposefully and, with all of you, we will be able to connect with the private sector and be able to increase our pipeline projects in the Philippines,” Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the USIDFC Nisha Biswal said.
On the part of the Japanese group, Hideo Ishizuki, Director-General of the International Cooperation Bureau stressed their country’s intention to move the project forward.
“We share the recognition of the importance of the Luzon Economic Corridor region and Japan is supporting connectivity in the region including railways and roads, through JICA, for many years. Having an inter-agency delegation from the Japanese side demonstrates our enthusiasm to advance this tripartite partnership for the Luzon economic corridor,” Ishizuki said.
