The South Korean government will co-finance one of the flagship projects of the Duterte administration through an official development assistance (ODA) under the concessional loan offer made earlier by Seoul, the Department of Finance (DoF) said.

“There is just one project that they have already signed,” Finance Assistant Secretary Maria Edita Tan said, referring to the P9.19-billion New Cebu International Container Port project, which the Philippines’ National Economic and Development Authority Board has approved.

Of the project’s total cost of P9.19 billion, South Korea will co-finance P7.96 billion, while the national government will shoulder the remaining P1.23-billion balance.

Seoul earlier offered the Philippines $1 billion in concessional loans from the Export-Import Bank of Korea in six years to 2022. The DoF said it was South Korea’s way of showing support to the Philippine’ government’s ambitious infrastructure projects though the “Build, Build, Build” program.

The Philippines is considering forwarding seven more projects for Seoul funding, the DoF said.

A 500-meter berth length

The Cebu port project involves the construction of a container port with a 500-meter berth length in a 25-hectare reclaimed island in Barangay Tayud in the municipality of Consolacion, Cebu.

It also includes the construction and improvement of 1,450 meters of inland road (access road), and the

construction of a 300-linear meter offshore bridge that will connect the port to the shoreline.

The project had been approved and endorsed by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd for South Korean ODA financing.

Besides the Cebu container port project, Tan said the government is looking to propose seven more infrastructure projects for South Korean funding.

The seven projects are the Development of Marine Aids to Navigation in Luzon and Visayas; the New Dumaguete Airport Development Project; the Development of Hybrid Power Generation Systems in the Philippines; the Establishment of Mindoro Multi-Grain Processing Center; the Development of the National Animal Identification and Traceability System; the Drive-Through Portal Inspection Facilities in International Ports of Entry; and the Automated Collection of Slaughter Data and Issuance of Meat Inspection Certificates.

Under a proposed cooperation agreement with the Philippines, South Korea’s priority areas for funding are transport, energy infrastructure, and information and communications technology.

The agreement is to be finalized between the two countries next month.

The Philippine government plans to spend P8.4 trillion on infrastructure projects during the term of President Rodrigo Duterte until 2022.

Source: Manila Times