ADB eyes $4-B for PH infra, climate adaptation this year

MANILA - The Asian Development Bank is eyeing to lend around $4 billion to the Philippines this year to help the country further develop its infrastructure and enhance climate adaptation. 

As the ADB opened its 56th Annual Meeting in Incheon, South Korea on Tuesday, Kelly Bird, the Bank’s Philippine Country Director spoke to ANC and said that among the major infrastructure projects they are looking to finance this year are the Bataan-Cavite Bridge, and the Davao Public Transport Modernization Project. 

Within the next 2-3 years, ADB is also looking to fund the Laguna Lakeshore Expressway and the MRT-4. 

Bird noted that since 2019, ADB has been lending the Philippines around $3 billion a year, 60 percent of which goes to infra. 

“I think we’re focusing on infrastructure because it’s critically important for long-term competitiveness and it’s also critically important for helping to shift economic development and population further north outside Metro Manila,” Bird said. 

The ADB and Japan have consistently topped the list of foreign donors to the Philippines’ infrastructure projects. 

• Construction of Cavite-Bataan bridge set for late 2023: DPWH