Japan commits funding for PH
Credit to Author: MAYVELIN U. CARABALLO, TMT| Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2019 16:27:44 +0000
Japan has committed to fund various projects in the Philippines following a high-level meeting in Osaka, the Finance department said on Friday.
The pledge was expressed via exchanges of notes after the previous day’s 7th meeting of the Japan-Philippines Joint Committee on Infrastructure Development and Economic Cooperation, the department said in a statement.
One of the notes involves a 1.2-billion yen grant for train simulators that will be used by the proposed Philippine Railway Institute, which the Finance department said “will help hone the skills of workers who will man the country’s extensive rail system that will be constructed as part of the Duterte administration’s infrastructure program.”
Another covers a 1.8-billion yen grant for the construction of Technical Education and Skills Development Authority training centers in Marawi and the provinces of Basilan and Sultan Kudarat under the Program for the Urgent Improvement of Socioeconomic Infrastructure in the Bangsamoro Region.
Also signed was a 560-million yen grant for well-drilling machines and underground water detecting machines under the Economic and Social Development Program.
The Philippines and Japan also signed a memorandum of cooperation in the field of healthcare, which “aims to establish a mechanism for future cooperation between the Philippines and Japan on, among others, universal health coverage, elderly care, disease prevention, maternal and child health services and sanitation.”
Japan is also extending grant assistance for peace and development projects in Mindanao covering the following:
• 200 million yen for the provision of livelihood assistance in agriculture and for fishers through the Food and Agriculture Organization;
• 300 million yen for the development of water facilities in the Bangsamoro region through the International Labor Organization; and
• 340 million yen for the provision of vehicles and equipment through the United Nations Development Program.
This is on top of a $202-million loan for the Road Network Development Project in Conflict-Affected Areas in Mindanao, which is expected to be signed in the first quarter of the year.
The project involves building, rehabilitating and improving a 178.43-kilometer road network in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and neighboring regions.
Japan was quoted as having said that it had “finished the necessary procedures to sign the loan agreement and is expecting to do so at the earliest possible time once the Philippine side secures the necessary government approvals.”
The Finance department underscored that Philippine and Japanese officials also discussed feasibility studies for the Circumferential Road
3 Missing Link Project in Metro Manila and the Dalton Pass East Alignment Alternative Road Project that is subject to certification of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, which they expect to resume in the first half of this year.
The Japanese side also “conveyed its intention to consider a possible supplemental loan” as requested by the Philippines for the Davao City Bypass Construction Project under the Special Terms for Economic Partnership facility.
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