International Business News – According to Philippine media reports, Philippine President Marcos recently delivered his first State of the Union address and proposed that infrastructure construction will be a key area for the new government to focus on promoting development. Marcos has repeatedly stated that he will continue the “Infrastructure Development Program” of the previous administration, believing that the plan has achieved fruitful results and is an effective strategy to fill the infrastructure shortcomings of the Philippines.
According to the “Infrastructure Plan for the Next Six Years” formulated by the Philippine Development Budget Coordinating Committee in early July, the new Philippine government will continue to significantly increase spending in the public infrastructure sector, and by the end of its term in 2028, the proportion of this expenditure to GDP will be a record 6.3%. The government also encourages private enterprises to actively participate in the development of infrastructure projects.
According to reports, the “infrastructure plan for the next six years” will focus on improving the road network in Luzon. At the same time, the government has ordered the priority to advance the “Agricultural products to market” road plan to reduce the cost of transporting agricultural products through the expansion of rural roads. In addition to highway projects, the government will continue to promote the construction of a series of railway projects, including the Manila North-South Commuter Railway System, Metro Manila Metro Project, Mindanao Railway and other projects with a total investment of peso 1.9 trillion.
At present, the infrastructure of the Philippines is still relatively lagging behind, resulting in the high cost of goods transportation between islands, which has severely restricted the country’s economic growth. Since the implementation of the “Infrastructure Development Program” for more than five years in April 2017, the Philippines has successively completed the Tarah-Panselan-La Union Expressway, the second phase of the Prarider Ring Road, and the North Luzon Expressway. Major projects such as the highway-port connection section, the Makati-Quezon section of the Metro Manila Elevated Section, and the Alabang-Suka Elevated Section. The “Infrastructure Development Program” of the Philippines has also been deeply connected with the joint construction of the “Belt and Road” initiative, which has contributed to the implementation of a large number of flagship projects.
Since July last year, the Estrela-Pantarian Bridge and the Binodo-Intramuros Bridge in the Philippines have been opened to traffic by the Chinese government, which has greatly eased the congestion on both sides of the Pasig River in Manila. In June this year, the water diversion tunnel project of the Kaliwa Dam project in the Philippines started, and the construction progress has made positive progress. It is understood that in the past six years, China and the Philippines have carried out nearly 40 inter-governmental cooperation projects, and the results of benefiting the people have continued to emerge.
The Philippine Department of Public Works said that thanks to the large-scale infrastructure plan, the congestion problems in major cities in the Philippines have been effectively alleviated, the flow of people and goods has been further smoothed, and at the same time, the rapid development of bridges, ports, railway stations, airports and industrial parks along the route has been greatly promoted. According to data released by the Ministry of Public Construction in May this year, from 2016 to 2020, the infrastructure sector alone created 6.5 million jobs for local people. Ronald Mendoza, Dean of the School of Government of Ateneo de Manila University, believes that the implementation of the “Infrastructure Plan for the Next Six Years” is of great significance and is expected to create more jobs, further activate economic vitality, and improve people’s well-being.