Marina tie-up with the Netherlands to boost PHL’s 10-year maritime industry development plan

Marina tie-up with the Netherlands to boost PHL’s 10-year maritime industry development plan
Lorenz S. Marasigan - March 22, 2019 https://businessmirror.com.ph/2019/03/22/marina-tie-up-with-the-netherla...

The Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) is looking at its counterparts in the Netherlands to help the Philippines build its maritime infrastructure to support its multibillion-peso plan to develop the industry in the next decade.

Narciso Vingson Jr., the chief of the regulatory body, said he is confident that his group’s recent meeting with the government officials from the Netherlands will bear much fruit, especially in the development of needed maritime facilities in the Philippines.

He said “the Netherlands’s technical expertise” will “help the Philippines in establishing the infrastructure needed in the successful implementation of the agency’s plans and programs, especially those incorporated in the 10-year Maritime Industry Development Plan [MIDP].”

The MIDP is a 10-year blueprint that spells out the needs, goals, and challenges of the whole maritime industry. Under the plan, the government and the private sector will jointly invest roughly P95 billion to develop the industry through 2028.

The amount is broken down into eight components, namely: upgrading of domestic shipping in support of the nautical highway development (P45.15 billion); development of shipping services for maritime tourism (P147 million); development of coastal and inland waterways transport system (P2.64 billion); strengthening of safety operations of registered fishing vessels (P75 million); development of a global maritime hub (P45.73 billion); enhancement of maritime safety in the Philippines (P149 million); modernization of maritime security in the Philippines (P83 million); and establishment of maritime innovation and knowledge center (P599 million).

The private sector will take on 92 percent of the total cost, while the remaining 8 percent will be from regular annual appropriations and official development assistance grants or loans from development partners, such as the Japan International Cooperation Agency, Asian Development Bank and the World Bank.

Vingson noted that Lieske Streefkerk-Arts of the Netherlands’s Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment “assured the Philippines of their continuous support in all of its efforts to enhance the country’s seafaring and maritime industries.”

Marina hosted the 20th Philippines­-Netherlands Joint Committee on Maritime Affairs meeting in Manila this week.

Both parties agreed to maintain an open line of communication to receive important reports on the country’s maritime industry until the next meeting scheduled for March 2020.

The regular meeting started in 1999 to support high-level bilateral consultations on maritime affairs, as Filipino seafarers are active contributors on Dutch-registered merchant fleets.