Philippine PPP projects welcome more Chinese investment: official

MANILA -- The Philippines welcomes Chinese enterprises and investors to participate in the country's booming public-private partnership (PPP) projects, said Cosette V. Canilao, executive director of the Philippines' PPP Center.

"Chinese enterprises are very innovative in the transport sector, especially in road and rail projects. We would like to invite them to participate in projects that we are going to launch in the next few months," said Canilao during a recent exclusive interview with Xinhua.

According to Canilao, the PPP Center currently has more than 40 projects in the pipeline, 14 of which are going through the biding process. These projects include five regional airports, two water projects, one regional prison project and some port and rail projects with the total investment amounting to $11 billion.

Canilao said various government agencies and the PPP Center are also seeking approval for seven projects including the Ninoy Aquino International Airport's development, operation and maintenance and Batangas-Manila Natural Gas Pipeline.

She attributed Japanese and South Korean companies' frequent presence in Philippine PPP projects to roadshows the center conducted earlier, saying that the center will carry out more promotional activities among Chinese enterprises to draw their interest in investing Philippine PPP projects.

"We should do roadshows to Chinese companies to introduce Philippine PPP programs, the processes we employ, and ways for them to participate," said Canilao, adding that the center does roadshows at a quarterly basis.

In addition, hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit is a very good opportunity to showcase what the Philippines has done in establishing PPP program and in connecting various economies to share their experience in the area and learn from one another, said Canilao.

According to the official, there will be experience sharing opportunities concerning PPP program among member economies during the APEC economic leaders' meeting.

The experience sharing will include applying best PPP practice in terms of biding and making sure there is level playing field not only for local players but also for foreign investors, said Canilao.