New at Castalia
Philippines Workshop on Public Infrastructure Expenditure
On November 8, 2008, Castalia held a workshop in Manila for ministries and agencies in the Philippines that oversee public spending on infrastructure and develop and implement infrastructure projects. Participants at the workshop included the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), the Department of Finance, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC). The purpose of the workshop was to present and discuss Castalia’s recommendations on how value analysis and improved risk management can be incorporated into the process of developing and implementing large public infrastructure projects.This is one component of Castalia’s ongoing work for NEDA and the Philippines-Australia Partnership for Economic Governance Reforms (PEGR). The purpose of this component is to reduce the incidence and severity of cost overruns, over-design, and delays in approving and implementing projects in the transportation, water resources, power, and social infrastructure sectors. The recommendations generated much interest and were considered by the participants to be an important step forward in improving the process for developing infrastructure in the Philippines.