WB ready for stronger partnership with RP, says Zoellick

World Bank Group President Robert Zoellick has expressed appreciation of the Aquino administration’s bolstered support for the conditional cash-transfer (CCT) program and the public-private partnership (PPP) scheme. In a statement released Thursday, the World Bank said that Zoellick recently met with President Benigno Aquino III at the sidelines of the United Nations’ general assembly on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in New York City. Zoellick said, “I appreciate the opportunity to meet with President Aquino and to listen to his plans for fighting poverty and promoting economic growth and good governance. We stand ready to forge a stronger partnership with the Philippines for achieving inclusive growth." The government is planning to expand the CCT program this year to cover a million households by end-2010 from the present 900,000 families covered by the program, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Corazon Soliman said in early Sept. The DSWD also targets to cover an additional 1.3 million households by December next year, Soliman said. President Aquino’s budget for 2011 allocates P21.2 billion for the CCT program, which grants a monthly stipend of up to P1,400 to each of 2.3 million identified poor families. With these developments of the government, Zoellick said the Philippines has made a laudable “commitment to expanding a modern social protection system, which not only protects the poor, but also encourages investments in health and education." A real impact “Similar programs have made a real impact on achieving the MDGs in countries around the world," he added. Zoellick pointed out that it is proper that the national government is pursuing efforts to boost the PPP project to address the country’s infrastructure problems. This could lead to achieving the development goals of the Philippines, according to him. The government recently created a PPP Center to function as an attached agency of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) to help facilitate PPP projects. Some of these projects include mass rail or transit projects as well as water supply, particularly for Metro Manila, Malacañang said last week. “Tapping the resources and energy of the private sector through carefully designed [PPPs] would go a long way in achieving sustainable growth that create more jobs for the poor. Both developed and developing countries have increasingly been utilizing [PPPs] in accelerating infrastructure development," Zoellick said. The World Bank said it is committed to working with the government and other stakeholders in strengthening public institutions as well as promoting transparency and accountability at the local and national levels. In a statement before he left Manila, President Aquino said, “Better governance, transparency and accountability will ensure more efficient use of funds for MDGs and will minimize leaks and waste in the use of public funds." Also, the World Bank said it is ready to work with President Aquino on mitigating the effects of climate change on the Philippines. “The Philippines is among the ten countries that are most vulnerable to climate change, in particular to extreme weather events," the World Bank noted. —JE, GMANEws.TV