Japan will help craft a development master plan for the Subic Bay Freeport Zone and neighboring areas to spur economic activities there, the Department of Finance (DOF) said Tuesday.
Last Friday, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III and Japan’s Hiroto Izumi, who was special advisor to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, signed a memorandum of cooperation under which the Japanese committed to provide technical support for the Subic Bay Regional Development Master Plan aimed at “maximizing the economic potentials of the Subic Bay and its surrounding areas,” the DOF said in a statement.The memorandum of cooperation was signed on the sidelines of the Ninth High-Level Meeting of the Philippines-Japan Joint Committee on Infrastructure Development and Economic Cooperation held in Hakone, Japan.The DOF said that the memorandum of cooperation for the Subic master plan covered potential projects in disaster risk management, logistics terminal development, public utilities development, and road network development.
The master plan will be finalized “at the soonest possible time,” the DOF said.
“The Philippine government may require cooperation from Japan, including official development assistance and other financial resources, for the implementation of the prioritized projects listed in the finalized master plan. Projects to be financed by Japanese ODA and other financial resources will be determined following a master plan survey and in light of both governments’ priorities,” the memorandum of cooperation read.In November, the Japanese government first pledged to support the Subic master-planning initiative when President Duterte met with Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at this year’s Asean Summit in Thailand.Besides the upcoming Subic project, the high-level Philippine and Japanese delegations also firmed up last week at least two upcoming loan agreements, including those that will finance the rehabilitation of Guadalupe Bridge along EDSA and the construction of a bypass road in Davao City. INQ