The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
The Australia-New Zealand Chamber of Commerce (ANZCHAM) and the Joint Foreign Chambers have urged the Duterte administration to complete major infrastructure projects that would help solve traffic congestion.
With more than 24 million people, Metro Manila is the fourth-largest urban area in the world, and its physical structures can barely cope.
The business groups called for the completion of major road projects, such as the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Expressway, as well as the connector road between the North and South Luzon expressways.
The capacity of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 1 and Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3 should be doubled, while the western and eastern extensions of the LRT Line 2 should be completed.
The overburdened Naia also needs to be tackled as soon as possible, according to Henry Basilio, a consultant for the United States Agency for International Development.
In an ANZCham forum last Tuesday, Basilio said the government could further develop the Clark International Airport, so it could act as an alternative gateway.
Provincial airports must also be equipped and accredited for night flights, so trips no longer have to be routed through Manila, he added.
As for ports, the foreign chambers said those in Subic, Clark and Batangas remain underutilized. The future growth of Manila ports should be limited, and traders must be encouraged to relocate to nearby ports, as well as ports in Cagayan de Oro, Cebu and Davao.
More than people and cars, cargoes also clog the capital, Basilio said.
“There is a sense that there is a momentum for change,” ANZCham President Tom Grealy said during the forum.
Economic managers have vowed to spend up to 5 percent of gross domestic product solely on infrastructure, Grealy said. They are also proposing emergency powers for President Rodrigo Duterte, so he could avert what they say is a full-blown “transport crisis.”
Basilio said the decongestion of Metro Manila would go hand-in-hand with the spread of development to the rural areas — another key objective of the Duterte administration.
As new areas are built up in the country, he explained, they act as “economic magnets,” attracting companies to set up business there. People no longer have to move to Manila, since they can tap opportunities elsewhere in the country.