The Philippines ranked second in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) ranking of Asian countries most conducive to public-private partnership (PPP) last year, even as it sees the Duterte administration’s push for more “hybrid” PPP projects as a “challenge” for this infrastructure-development mode.

The country’s score of 81 in the EIU’s 2018 Infrascope index was only behind top placer Thailand’s 83 and was higher than China’s 80.

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In a report, the EIU noted that the Philippines’ PPP rules “date back to the 1990s, since which time they have been modified many times to formalize institutional frameworks, improve project selection and bid processes, and tackle delays that slow project approval and construction (and thereby increase transaction costs).”

“The regulatory environment in the Philippines is notably good: other than Thailand, the Philippines is the only country in the ‘mature’ tier,” it added, referring to countries that scored an average of between 80 and 100 across five categories—regulations, institutions, maturity, investment and business climate, as well as financing.

“The Philippines has updated its previous regulations (1994 revisions) to streamline processes and now has comprehensive PPP policies and guidelines that are accessible online, policies and procedures for dealing with unsolicited bids, and independent dispute-resolution procedures. Its PPP Center connects to core organs of government as it is attached to the National Economic and Development Authority, the central planning agency, and it also reports to a PPP governing board composed of several national agencies,” the EIU said.

In terms of PPP regulations, the Philippines scored 85, just behind Thailand’s 87.

In the domain of PPP institutions, the Philippines’ score of 94 was tied in third place with China and India.

As for PPP maturity, the Philippines ranked sixth, scoring 73.

The Philippines was in second place with regards PPP investment and business climate with a score of 87, after India’s 90.

As far as PPP financing was concerned, the Philippines had the third best environment, scoring 86 behind Thailand’s 75 and India’s 72.

However, the EIU said that despite significant improvements in PPP infrastructure development, the changes made since 2010 were yet to be implemented through a new law.

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