France is willing to lend money to the Philippines to build a cable car system in Metro Manila that will make flying above the mega city's gridlocks a reality, the Department of Finance said. It will also be the first in Asia.
The government of France gave a grant to fund a feasibility study for the project in 1998, which is now up for approval by the Investment Coordinating Committee of President Rodrigo Duterte's cabinet with a projected cost of $100 million (P4.8 billion), the DOF said.
During a teleconference with Finance Sec. Carlos Dominguez, French Ambassador to the Philippines Michèle Boccoz said Paris could commit to a "highly concessional loan," the DOF said. Such a borrowing arrangement ususally has lower interest and longer payment terms compared to commercial loans. That is usually the case for government to government agreements.
The Manila Urban Car Cable Project of the Department of Transportation seeks a 4.5-kilometer cable car system in the Santolan-Pasig-Eastwood corridor, the DOF said.
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Boccoz also offered to help Manila acquire 40 units of 24-meter fast patrol boats for the Philippine Coast Guard, along with two additional 84-meter offshore patrol vessels and two coastal patrol boats from French shipbuilder OCEA, the DOF said.
One-year long quarantines in the country has given the government leeway to fast-track infrastructure improvements such as the rehabilitation of the MRT and the construction of bridges crossing the Pasig River.
Also in the pipeline are the MRT-7, the Mega Manila Subway and the common station that will connect the LRT, MRT and Subway.
