The Joint Foreign Chambers (JFC) is calling for the swift amendment of the build-operate-transfer (BOT) law to speed up the country’s infrastructure development.
In a letter addressed to the chairman of the House Committee on Public Works and Highways, the JFC expressed its support on the move of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center and private stakeholders to enact changes to Republic Act 7718, or the BOT law.
“We write to express support on the swift enactment of amendments to the BOT law in order to sustain investor confidence by institutionalizing the processes that have improved the PPP program over the past four years,” the JFC statement read.
The PPP Center, in an earlier report, tagged the changes as a priority of the government and is eyeing for amendments to the BOT law to be passed in the first quarter of 2015. According to the agency, technical working group discussions in the Lower House have begun.
The amendments being pushed by the PPP Center includes extending the Swiss challenge period for an unsolicited proposal to a maximum of six months from two months.
The Swiss Challenge will allow other interested parties to outbid the initial project proponent. Projects that have undergone Swiss Challenge include the Metro Rail Transit 7 project.
Other proposed amendments include the institutionalization of the Project Development and Monitoring Facility, the PPP Governing Board and the contingent liability fund.
The proposed PPP Act has already been forwarded to the House of Representatives and the Senate, and both chambers.
“The private sector is cognizant of the great need for massive infrastructure investments to support and boost the growth of the Philippine economy. We recognize that the government’s PPP Program provides the framework by which infrastructure development can be accelerated and properly tendered to interested and capable parties,” JFC said.
The JFC is a coalition of the American, Australian, New Zealand, Canadian, European, Japanese and Korean Chambers in the Philippines and the Philippine Association of Multinational Companies Headquarters Inc.
The group represents over 3,000 member companies engaged in over $230 billion worth of trade and some $ 30 billion worth of investments in the Philippines.