Press Conference on PH Hosting
of 2018 ADB Annual Meeting
Davao City
March 9, 2018
Asian Development Bank Board Secretary Woochong Um; ADB Director-General for Southeast Asia Ramesh Subramaniam; ADB Country Director Kelly Bird; ADB Principal Country Specialist Joven Balbosa; ADB Director for the Philippines Paul Dominguez; ladies and gentlemen:
The country is proud to be hosting the 51st Annual Meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). This meeting will be held at the ADB headquarters in Mandaluyong from May 3 to 6. We expect about 3,000 delegates from the Asia-Pacific and the rest of the world to attend the event. Ahead of that meeting, there will be several preliminary meetings of ADB governors as well as forums on the key development issues of the day.
The Philippines, as host of this year’s ADB Annual Meeting, will lead discussions around the theme “Linking People and Economies for Inclusive Development.”
This is an apt theme. Although the region leads the world in the pace of growth, we know that some communities and local economies have been left out of the process of more efficient wealth-creation. The call for more inclusive growth puts focus on ways and means to bring these communities and local economies into the mainstream. In the course of the deliberations, we hope to craft modes of development interventions that will lead to more inclusive growth. We are doing this in the midst of several large global trends.
The Philippines is suitably positioned to lead these discussions on greater economic inclusion. The country has posted one of the highest growth rates in the region.
Because of the reforms we have put in place, the investment community in a recent survey identified the country as the best place to invest in. We are proud of that achievement.
The tax reform program, the expenditure plan and all the activities of the government are aimed to promote economic inclusion. Our government financial institutions are primed to expand microfinance activities. We are seeking to deepen our capital markets and make investing accessible to ordinary Filipinos. An aggressive infrastructure program aims to link isolated communities with the mainstream of growth.
Mindanao today is at the front and center of the Build, Build, Build infrastructure program. In fact, five of the Duterte Administration’s flagship infrastructure projects already approved by the NEDA Board are in Mindanao Island, namely: the 5.4-billion peso Malitubog-Maridagao Irrigation Project Phase 2 in North Cotabato and Maguindanao, which is expected to service almost 10,000 hectares of land in 56 conflict-affected areas; the 4.86-billion peso Panguil Bay Bridge project that will connect Tangub City in Misamis Occidental and Tubod, Lanao del Norte, for completion in 2021; the expansion and improvement in Davao International Airport and Laguindingan Airport Projects worth 40.57-billion pesos and 14.6-billion pesos, respectively, for completion in 2025; and the much-anticipated 102-kilometer Mindanao Railway Project Phase 1, Segment 1 worth 35.26 billion pesos that will connect Davao City, Tagum, and Digos.
These projects demonstrate this administration’s commitment to move Mindanao from the margins to make it a center for agriculture and industry.
The ADB has also been generously assisting us in funding important infrastructure projects that would spur economic development in this island. In fact, we just recently signed in January this year the 380 million US dollar-loan from the ADB that will help improve about 280 kilometers (km) of national roads and bridges in the Zamboanga Peninsula and Tawi-Tawi. This project aims to expand economic opportunities in areas such as agribusiness, ecotourism, and logistics, as well as improve access to markets, jobs, education, and health facilities.
Meanwhile, another infra project to be funded by the Bank that is now in the pipeline is the 70-million US dollar Davao Public Transport Modernization Project which is designed to improve public transport infrastructure and services in Davao City.
The ADB has also supported several major initiatives for Mindanao. These include ongoing socioeconomic and community development projects with the overall goal of improving the quality of life for the citizens in Mindanao.
The Bank’s country assistance to the Philippines at the strategic, operational, and administrative levels also helps us implement the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area’s (BIMP-EAGA) area development project that was actually started during the administration of President Ramos.
So these are the projects that we have ongoing, and we know that we are going to see great progress, in Mindanao in particular, with the help of ADB.
Thank you very much.
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