Over 20 Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects will be submitted for the approval of the National Economic and Development Authority’s Investment Coordination Committee’s (NEDA-ICC) this year.

PPP Center Executive Director Ma. Cynthia C. Hernandez, during a press conference at the signing of the PPP Code’s Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) on Thursday, said that out of the 182 priority infrastructure projects, around 45 are PPPs

“These are in various stages of development. Some of them are being assisted by the PPP center as well to go through the solicited draft,” she said.

“I think within the year, a substantial number of those will be submitted to NEDA. We're thinking around 20 (submitted) to the ICC,” she added.

The ICC, wherein the NEDA chief serves as co-chair, evaluates the fiscal, monetary and balance of payments implications of major national projects, and recommends to the timetable of their implementation.

Meanwhile, for unsolicited projects, the PPP Center has already passed 20 proposals since the law was passed three months ago.

The newly signed IRR for the PPP Code aims to expedite processes in approving PPP projects such as setting a threshold for proposals with a cost of 15 billion and below will not have to undergo through the NEDA board anymore.

“But if they require some form of subsidy like right-of-way, access to availability payments,
then they will have the still to go to the NEDA ICC, the ICC can soon stop there. It will no longer go the way to the present,” NEDA Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said.

“So that in a sense, it can also diminish the number of PPP projects going to the NEDA Board, and that's part of the streamlining that we are pushing for,” he added.

It also shortens PPP project approvals, which used to take a year for some projects, are not capped at the maximum of 120 days.

The IRR also clarifies the deadlines of the processes of project approvals.

“So the first step was contract signing and eventually the implementation and filled up those gaps. Those steps that didn't have a timeline before now have deadlines so that all implementing agencies are guided,” PPP Center Deputy Executive Director Jeffrey I. Manalo said. stated.

At present, there are 119 PPP projects in the pipeline, with 95 at the national level and 24 at the local level, which are all worth about P2.4 trillion.

“Majority of these are in the physical and digital connectivity phases as well as property development, but opportunities also abound for social infrastructure projects. We anticipate and eagerly look forward to more proposals in the coming years,” NEDA said.