The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) expects the country to benefit from more financially viable and well-structured public-private partnership (PPP) projects following the publication of the revised rules of the Build-Operate Transfer (BOT) law which is set to take effect next month.
In a statement, the NEDA said it is confident there would be more financially viable and well-structured PPPs under the current administration after the publication of the amended implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the BOT law last September27.
NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, who also serves as BOT IRR Cabinet-level committee chair, said the PPP projects arising from the revised 2022 IRR would help the government in promoting development in critical sectors, even as there are global challenges and fiscal constraints.
“Through the new IRR, the government will utilise PPP projects to address the binding constraints to growth and job creation in sectors such as manufacturing, tourism, IT-BPOs (information technology-business process outsourcing), and the creative industry. Considering our current fiscal position, private sector resources and technical expertise will be harnessed to introduce innovations and upgrade the country’s vital infrastructure such as logistics, transportation, telecommunications, and water,” he said.
Balisacan said the new IRR aims to balance private and public interests to achieve the country’s development goals.
Business groups raised concerns over the amended version of the IRR in April of this year, which were seen to place greater risks on the part of the private sector.
Among the changes made by the government under the revised IRR that have just been published is in the definition of the material ad verse government Action (MAGA), which previously referred to any act of the executive branch.
MAGA now “refers to any act of the government, which the project proponent had no knowledge of, or could not reasonably be expected to have had knowledge of, prior to the effectivity of the contract; and that occurs after the effectivity of the contract; other than an act which Balisacan said PPPs are seen to encourage investments in projects connecting leading and lagging regions, which will improve the competitiveness of domestic industries, and lead to a cycle of attracting even more investments in various sectors.
By tapping private resources for projects, the NEDA said the government would be able to channel more resources for social protection measures to boost the Filipinos’ purchasing power.
The latest version of the revised IRR was approved by the BOT IRR Committee earlier this month.
The BOT IRR committee is led by the NEDA as chair and Department of Finance as co-chair.
Other members of the committee are the Departments of Agriculture, Energy, Environment and Natural Resources, Information and Communications Technology, the Interior and Local government, Public Works and Highways, Trade and Industry, and Transportation, as well as the PPP Centre.
Following the publication of the revised IRR, the NEDA said the amended rules would take effect on October 12.
Category: Philippines
