Government Infrastructure Forum at Dusit Hotel Nikko in Makati City

[pioneer]

With the members of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s Cabinet in full attendance, the government made today the most comprehensive presentation yet of the strategic infrastructure projects in the five super regions to leaders of the business community and the private sector during a "Government Infrastructure Forum" at the Dusit Hotel Nikko in Makati City.

The forum, hosted and participated in by several major business organizations, was aimed at establishing possible avenues of collaboration between the government and private sector to fast-track the implementation of development initiatives outlined by President Arroyo in her State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July.

Under Executive Order 553 issued last Aug. 1, the President highlighted the partnership between the government and the business sector when she created the Infrastructure Monitoring Task Force composed of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), the Presidential Management Staff (PMS), the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the Department of Energy (DoE), the Export Development Council (EDC) and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI).

In an _expression of support, business leaders Washington Sycip, Ms. Tessie Sy-Coson, Oscar Hilado, former Prime Minster Cesar Virata and Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala spearheaded the holding of the forum to boost the development of the super regions.

PMS Director General Arthur Yap, who is also the head of the government’s Infrastructure Monitoring Task Force, said the event provided a venue for the government, through President Arroyo’s designated Super Region Development Champions, to present the strategic participation of the business sector in the implementation and completion of these major development projects.

"The occasion provided the business community an opportunity to learn more about the government’s Medium Term Public Investment Program," said Yap, who himself made the presentation on the North Luzon Agribusiness Quadrangle (NLAQ) during the forum.

The other presentors were Subic-Clark Alliance Development Corp head Edgar Pamintuan for the Luzon Urban Beltway; Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano for Central Philippines; Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza for Mindanao; and Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) Chair Ramón Sales for the Cyberservices Corridor.

Specific infrastructure projects were discussed by the heads of the implementing agencies, namely, Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza, Public Works and Highways Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr., Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla and National Irrigation Administration Administrator Arturo Lomibao.

Discussing the strategic directions for the super regions including the revenue generation and financing strategies to ensure the availability of funds for the projects and the opportunities for business were Economic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri, Finance Secretary Margarito Teves, Budget and Management Secretary Rolando Andaya and Trade and Industry Secretary Peter Favila.

Among the business organizations which participated in the forum were the American Chamber of Commerce, Australia-New Zealand Chamber of Commerce, Bankers Association of the Philippines, Bishops-Businessmen’s Conference, British Chamber of Commerce, Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Chamber of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Industries of Northern Mindanao, European Chamber of Commerce, Federation of Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

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