Japan has pledged USD 2 billion, the “largest single Official Development Assistance (ODA)” to a partner nation, for the construction of the “biggest railway project” in the Philippines. The Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) secretary Albert del Rosario received the pledge during a meeting with Japan State Minister for Foreign Affairs Minoru Kiuchi during a regional meeting of Southeast Asian ministers in Kuala Lumpur.
The loan is intended for the construction of the first phase of the North-South Commuter Rail (NSCR) project, a 36.7-kilometer narrow-gauge elevated commuter railway from Malolos, Bulacan province to Tutuban in Manila.
The construction works could begin in the first quarter of 2017 and finish by 2020. “The train system is expected to transport 340,000 passengers daily,” the DFA said.
The railway project is part of the two nations’ “Cooperation Roadmap for Quality Infrastructure Development in the Transport Sector in Metropolitan Manila Area”, which was agreed upon during President Benigno Aquino III’s state visit to Japan in June.
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