NEDA committee to vet China firms for infra projects

NEDA File Photo | By Alexis Romero via Philstar

MANILA, Philippines -- President Rodrigo Duterte has tapped the Investment Coordinating Committee (ICC) of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) to vet companies seeking to forge deals with the government following reports that Chinese firms with dubious reputations want to invest in key projects.

 

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said the NEDA ICC would ask the Chinese government to designate and accredit companies that can undertake the projects.

 

“The president is the chairman of the NEDA and we have an investment coordinating committee there and he has verbally agreed to designate that group to be the focal point of the management of our relationship with China,” Dominguez said in a press briefing in Malacañang Wednesday.

 

“Once the president has actually signed an order to do that, the ICC will go to China and ask the Chinese government to designate a single focal point also in China so that the dealings can be government-to-government,” he added.

 

Dominguez said the setup would allow the Philippines to know which companies are capable of carrying out projects.

 

Previous reports said Chinese firms that were either blacklisted by the World Bank or were tagged in questionable deals were among those who vowed to investment in Philippine projects during Duterte’s state visit to China last month.

 

China Road and Bridge Corp. was implicated in bid manipulation in the Philippines and has been debarred by the World Bank. CAMC Engineering, meanwhile, was the contractor for the North Rail Project, which has been dropped due to procurement anomalies.

 

CCC Dredging, another firm eyeing investments in the Philippines, reportedly took part in the building of artificial islands in disputed areas in the South China Sea.  

 

Feasibility studies

 

Dominguez clarified that there is no commitment yet that the companies would bag contracts. Quoting Bases Conversion and Development Authority chief Vince Dizon, Dominguez said the projects are still subject to feasibility studies.

 

“This project with one of the companies that supposedly had a problem with the World Bank projects is only on the feasibility study stage,” Dominguez said

 

“Once the feasibility study is done, according to Vince Dizon… these projects will be bid out and, of course, if a company is not acceptable in the international field, they will not be able to bid for the project,” he added.

 

Officials said Duterte’s four-day state visit to China have yielded about $24 billion worth of deals. The figure covers loans and private sector agreements and touches across different industries. 

 

Dominguez said China has pledged $6 billion worth of official development assistance and $3 billion worth of loans for infrastructure projects.

 

“Of course, you know, this is the first time we are doing ODA or official development assistance with China so we don’t have a complete list of projects yet. However, among the projects in our pipeline are a big irrigation project in the ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao),” the Finance chief said.

 

“We have the P200-billion project for a railway from Manila to Bicol and we have of course, a lot of infrastructure projects within the Greater Manila Area,” he added.

 

Dominguez said the projects seek to generate jobs and spur development outside the Greater Manila Area.

 

“The infrastructure projects outside of Metro Manila will also connect the farmers and small businessmen in the outlying areas to the main consuming areas of Manila,” he said.