Department of Transportation (DOTr) Transportation Secretary Jaime J. Bautista on Wednesday, May 24, invited top officials of the European Union-Association of South East Asian Nations (EU-ASEAN) Council and the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) to invest in big-ticket infrastructure transport projects.

Due to budgetary constraints, project financing from foreign business groups presented the most viable option to undertake these projects, he underscored.

“The biggest obstacle has always been fund-sourcing, considering the strained national budget of our government after coming out of the pandemic,” Sec. Bautista explained during informal discussions with officials of the EU-ASEAN Business Council and ECCP.

“We have offered various infrastructure transport projects to international financial institutions, private investors, and professional associations and industry groups,” he told the delegates.

Sec. Bautista cited the proposed privatization of the operations and management of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and New Manila International Airport as an option for private sector investment.

“Other regional airports across the country are in the pipeline for privatization,” he noted.

Infrastructure projects in various transport sectors such as railways, maritime and road, including the Metro Manila Subway, North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR), LRT-1 Cavite Extension Project, MRT-7, and MRT-4 also need investors, according to Sec. Bautista.

“It's important because they can assist us in financing the projects through Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) so, we hope that the investors from their countries can be supportive of many projects of DOTr," he explained. "We have PPP projects for airports, rails and for roads and for maritime.”