Philippines asking Korea for $13.28m loan

The Philippines is asking the Korean government for a $13.29 million loan to improve the navigation system at the Laguindingan Airport in Misamis Oriental province.

Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) Secretary March Roxas said the fund, which will come in the form of a loan from the Economic Cooperation Development Fund of the Republic of Korea, will be coursed through the Export-Import Bank of Korea.

Among the items needed to upgrate the airport’s navigation system are the instrument landing system, a Doppler radar, a communications system, an automated weather observation system, electrical works for the air navigation system and aeronautical ground lighting system.

Roxas said that the entire Laguindigan airport development project is almost finished.

He said that about 90 percent of its civil works have been completed by the South Korea-based Yooshin Engineering Corp., the SCHEMA Konsult, Inc., and the Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Co. Ltd

He said that economic activity in the region is projected to soar to as the airport is envisioned to be a major trunkline air facility.

“This will be a major trading and tourism hub. Its operation would have a multiplier effect in the region, and this would mean more jobs for the people,” he noted.

The Laguindingan airport is being eyed to become the main airport of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities in northern Mindanao, as a counterpart of the Davao international airport in Southern Mindanao.

The government is expecting the airport’s operation to boost Mindanao’s potential as a national food basket being an exporter of the country’s major agricultural exports such as banana and coconut.

http://www.philstar.com/nation/article.aspx?publicationsubcategoryid=200&articleid=827085

 

Category: Philippines