Port developer Harbour Centre Port Terminal Inc. (HCPTI) said prospects are bright for the country's port industry due to the projected increase in operations and cargo volume coming from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) integration.
Reghis M. Romero II, owner and operator of HCPTI in Manila, said the elimination of barriers to investments and tariffs among member-states of the ASEAN and the robust trade with China will spur domestic port activities as well.
“The tariff reduction on goods flowing between ASEAN and China could be expected to balloon to unprecedented levels in the wake of Southeast Asia’s economic integration,” Romero said.
“The increase in port operations and cargo volume will come, not only from the rise in trade volume between ASEAN and China, but also within the ASEAN itself and the other regions and sub-regions of the world,” he added, noting that Asean-China trade with the rest of the world has reached $4.3 trillion, accounting for about 13.3 percent of global trade.
Romero cited the 50-hectare Harbour Centre expansion project sealed between Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada and the Philippine Reclamation Authority as a long-term solution.
The project with an estimated cost of P7.4 billion, will add another 20 hectares with a kilometer-long berthing facility to Harbour Centre Port Terminal to enable it to accommodate the fast increasing volume and size of vessels and cargos at the port.
Also, HCPTI's Davao project, with its proximity to East Asia countries, will be a corridor for trade and commerce between the Philippines and the rest of the ASEAN Economic Community, Romero said.
The Cebu International Container and Bulk Terminal, meanwhile, is an 85-hectare reclamation project consisting of a 1,200-meter-long berth, 1,000-meter access road, 25-hectare container yard, and a 50-hectare industrial park.
The project will help mitigate the container traffic in Cebu City, whose port can no longer be expanded because of geographic limitations.
“The three-port reclamation and modernization projects in Manila, Cebu and Davao will form the backbone of the national port network that we intend to build across the archipelago. This vision is consistent with President Rodrigo Duterte’s policy agenda on increasing the country’s global competitiveness and ease of doing business, and on accelerating annual infrastructure spending with public-private partnerships playing a key role,” Romero said.
Source: GMA News
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<p>Time: 2024 By: Ministry of Industry and Trade</p>
