The Philippines and South Korea signed a $172.64-million loan agreement for the construction of a new international container port in Cebu that aims to free up the existing seaport in the province and provide a more efficient and reliable transport infrastructure in the Visayas.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III and Sung-Soo Eun, chairman, and president of the Export-Import Bank of Korea signed the agreement, which was witnessed by President Rodrigo Duterte and South Korea President Moon Jae-in.
The loan accord was among the five agreements signed during Duterte’s official visit in Seoul.
A new Cebu International Container Port with an estimated project cost of P10.1 billion will be built on a 25-hectare reclaimed land in the town of Consolacion in Cebu.
It will include a berthing facility with a 500-meter quay wall length that can simultaneously accommodate two 2,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) vessels; operating facilities and structures for containers such as a freight station and inspection shed; an access road and bridge; and a dredged waterway and turning basin.
Aside from the construction of physical structures, the loan also covers the procurement of cargo handling equipment and consulting services.
Kexim-EDCF will extend the amount of $172.641 million for the port project with a preferential interest rate of 0.15 percent per annum for non-consulting services and zero percent for consulting services.
The loan has a maturity period of 40 years inclusive of a 10-year grace period.
The Philippine government will provide a counterpart fund of $26.09 million for the project. Julito G. Rada
Korea has already provided loans amounting to $100.13 million for the Panguil Bay Bridge project connecting Tangub, Misamis Occidental and Tubod, Lanao del Norte; $20.63 million for the Samar Pacific Coastal Road Project; $207.88 million, Jalaur Multipurpose Project Stage II in Iloilo; and $80.48 million, Integrated Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation Measures in Low Lying Areas of Pampanga Bay;
It also extended a $71.61 million loan for the modernization of Palawan’s Puerto Princesa Airport, which was completed in April last year.