With over $3 billion in public and private financing at stake, the United States is looking to double down on its infrastructure development aid to the Philippines, intending to build quality transportation in the country.
Revealed via a fact sheet by the White House, following President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and President Joe Biden’s bilateral meeting on May 1, it highlights the role of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in the building of “high-quality railways, ports, and transport systems.”
Another US agency will also lend a hand in the project, which sees the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) implementing new “sustainable infrastructure activities,” leveraging on the massive budget.
Further, the information also said that the program is aimed at bolstering the Philippines through important mineral supply chains, clean energy solutions, advanced smart grid technologies, healthcare infrastructures, 5G deployment, as well as airport and maritime safety.
Centered around aviation, both leaders also agreed in boosting one another’s air-space connectivity and bilateral aviation relationship, which the fact sheet claims will positively impact the two nations’ people-to-people and economic ties.
As the two heads of state expressed their commitment, it spells stronger bilateral cooperation on space situational awareness as well as the employ of space for maritime domain awareness between the two countries.
Source: Inquirer