MANILA: Following Manila’s decision to stop using China as a source of funding last year, Japan, South Korea, and India have all offered to finance three Philippine railway projects worth nearly US$ 5 billion, the nations transportation chief announced on Monday( Nov 6 ).
Jaime Bautista, the transportation secretary, stated that the Philippine government could contact the three nations for potential official development assistance( ODA ). He claimed that the government could also invest in the private business or finance some of the bridge projects.
” We’re looking into these.” We are unable to provide any specifics just however, Bautista told a press conference.
The Mindanao Railway Project’s Davao-Digios section, the Philippine National Railways South Long-Haul Project, and the Subic-Clia Rail Project are all rail projects with a combined US$ 4.95 billion market value.
Loan contracts with China were considered” withdrawn” after the Chinese state failed to act on the financing request, and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had ordered authorities to revise them last season.
However, Bautista claimed that since the loan negotiations with China on the road projects, which started in 2018 during the name of former President Rodrigo Duterte, had not advanced, the government had to look for additional funding options.
When he was president, Duterte pursued closer relations with Beijing and abandoned territorial disputes in change for billions of dollars in aid. He was replaced by Marcos in June of last year.
According to government data, the Philippines had just 77 km of functional railway as of 2016, far behind other urban centers across Asia, down from more than 1, 100 km before World War II. Marcos has pledged to update the nation’s rail network.
In the capital region, work is being done on building the Philippines’ primary subway train, which will be financed by money from Japan.