Marawi rebuilding eyes up to P86-B investments

• Source: http://www.manilatimes.net/marawi-rebuilding-eyes-p86-b-investments/372083/
• Friday, January 5, 2018

By JULMUNIR I. JANNARAL (TMT)

COTABATO CITY: The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), the poorest region in the country, is expected to generate up to P86 billion worth of investments as plans for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Marawi proceeds this year, an official of the ARMM Regional Board of Investments (ARMM-RBOI) said.

Ishak Mastura, ARMM-RBOI chairman and managing head, quoted Housing Secretary Eduardo del Rosario, Task Force Bangon Marawi chairman, who said that the government has received six proposed master plans for the rebuilding of Marawi City with investment ranging from P38 to P86 billion.

Mastura said, whoever is chosen would be subjected to a Swiss challenge, where other developers could submit a competing bid to match the proposal. The government would select either a lower bid offering the same quality as the chosen proposal, or a “better offer” than the one the lowest bidder proposed.

“Under the Investment Priorities Plan 2017-2019 promulgated by President Duterte, among the investment projects that may avail of fiscal incentives are infrastructure and logistics including LGU-PPP [local government unit–public-private partnership]. This covers the establishment and operations of physical infrastructure vital to the country’s economic development and prosperity,” Mastura said.

He added that since the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Marawi City is a build-transfer or turnkey investment project, it will involve huge up-front investment costs for the developer.

The availment of fiscal and non-fiscal incentives from RBOI can bolster the viability of the project and attract the best developers.

The long lead time for such reconstruction projects would also need some cushion for risks that the incentives from RBOI can help mitigate.

“We certainly welcome the potential big boost in investments to the region and stand ready to evaluate the eligibility of the investments of the developer and other downstream players in the Marawi reconstruction for incentives from our office,” Mastura said.