TAGAYTAY CITY, Cavite, March 4 (PNA) — The 2015 Asia-Pacific Infrastructure Partnership (APIP) Dialogue, which opened at the Taal Vista Hotel here Wednesday, aims to reduce the differences between the public and private sectors in infrastructure development.
In his welcome remarks, Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran said this year’s dialogue on infrastructure partnership will focus on an important topic — urban infrastructure development and financing, a key agenda in the Cebu Action Plan that will guide member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in the coming years. The action plan will be launched in September.
Citing a World Bank report, Beltran said there is an influx of people from rural areas to urban centers, seeking better job opportunities and a good life, thus increasing the need for more infrastructures.
The World Bank report, he said, raised issues to policymakers on how to finance and develop budding cities, as well as on how to improve and develop cities with a pattern considered as locked in.
“I envision this afternoon’s dialogue to be a free-flowing exchange of ideas. I hope none of us will hesitate in sharing their ideas and recommendations as we all work towards the goal of improving Philippine infrastructure and eventually regional infrastructure,” he said.
Chairman of the APIP dialogue, Mark Johnson, said in his remarks that the purpose of the dialogue is to reduce the asymmetry in knowledge applied in the public sector and the private sector with regards to infrastructure development.
The private sector often has knowledge and information but because of competition, these are not easily made available, Johnson said.
The public sector, on the other hand, is constrained by policy, political issues and so on, and there must be a frank discussion between the public and private sectors to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the whole process, he said.
Johnson meanwhile recognized the very impressive Philippine progress in terms of the implementation of its public private partnership (PPP) program in the past several years, noting this feat could be emulated by other countries. (PNA)