MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine ground transport infrastructure sector will see a boom in public-private partnerships (PPP) in support of government programs next year and, as a result, will experience another growth year in 2011.

This was the forecast made by Ramoncito S. Fernandez, president and CEO of Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC), in a talk he delivered at the meeting of the Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines last Oct. 28. Hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Inc. (AmCham), the meeting, which was held at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati City, was attended by members of the Australian-New Zealand Chamber of Commerce (Phils.) Inc., Canadian Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Inc., European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Inc., Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Philippines Inc., Korean Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Inc., and Philippine Association of Multinational Companies Regional Headquarters Inc.

Next year, Fernandez said, a number of major expansion projects will be implemented, including three where MPTC will be directly involved. These are the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) Segments 9 and 10, two projects under NLEx Phase 2, a multibillion-peso road network expansion program that will make the NLEx more accessible to motorists, and the NLEX-South Luzon Expressway (SLEx) Connector Road.

A member of the Metro Pacific Group, MPTC is the holding company that has under its wing the Manila North Tollways Corporation (MNTC), the builder and concessionaire of the NLEX, and the Tollways Management Corporation (TMC), the operations and maintenance (O&M) operator of both the NLEx and the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx). Because of the huge success of the rehabilitated NLEx, which has become a vital artery linking Metro Manila to Central and Northern Luzon, both MPTC and MNTC are now widely recognized as leading authorities in the ground transport infrastructure field and their executives are often invited as resource persons on the subject.

NLEx Segment 9 will connect McArthur Highway, the old route to Central and Northern Luzon, to NLEx in Valenzuela, while Segment 10 will link McArthur Highway to Manila’s Port Area. Better known as the “NLEx Harbor Link,” these two road projects are expected to dramatically speed up the transport of goods from Central and Northern Luzon to the North Harbor, Metro Manila’s premier domestic port.

The NLEx-SLEx Connector Road, on the other hand, is a 13.2-kilometer expressway that will make the movement of people and goods between Northern and Southern Luzon faster, more efficient and more convenient. It will cut travel time between the NLEx and SLEx to only 15-20 minutes, decongest Metro Manila by providing an alternative to C5, EDSA and other major thoroughfares, and allow unrestricted traffic flow from the ports of Southern Luzon, thus, easing truck ban concerns.

Other expansion projects that the government will implement in partnership with the private sector in 2011, according to Fernandez, are the MRT 3 and LRT Line 1 expansion to Bacoor, Cavite; LRT Line 2 expansion from Santolan to Masinag; the Cavite-Laguna (CaLa) Expressway that will link the Coastal Road to Silang, Cavite; and the Tarlac-La Union Toll Expressway (TLUTEx) that will extend the NLEx to Rosario, La Union.

The expected boom in 2011, Fernandez noted, will continue the steady growth that the ground transport infrastructure sector has been experiencing over the last few years. In the last three years, he said, the toll road business alone attracted more than P30 billion worth of investments.

Toll road and rail usage, he noted, has continued to grow strongly. Citing an example, Fernandez said the NLEx has broken its all-time high daily average vehicle entry record for two consecutive years.

More importantly, he said, by facilitating the movement of people and cargo, the toll road industry has contributed significantly to the economic growth of Central, North and Southern Luzon.

The ground transport infrastructure sector will continue to contribute to economic growth, he said. “The outlook for 2011 is certainly very encouraging,” he pointed out, adding that doubling the country’s current toll roads system, which has a cumulative total of some 300 kilometers, is “doable in five years.”

To help the sector grow faster and better – and contribute even more to the country’s economic progress – Fernandez said the industry has lined up three desired reforms. These are: Shortening the right of way (ROW) acquisition process, improving access to long-term capital, and unifying standards in both toll road and rail access.