USTDA Advances Aviation and Energy Infrastructure in the Philippines
September 16, 2014
(USTDA)
MANILA, PHILIPPINES – Today, the U.S. Trade and
Development Agency awarded two grants to its
partners in the Philippines to support their
efforts to modernize the country's aviation and
energy sectors. USTDA Director Leocadia I. Zak
emphasized the Agency's longstanding commitment
to leveraging U.S. expertise to help build
sustainable infrastructure in the Philippines,
pointing out that USTDA has supported key
transportation, energy and telecommunications
projects that have led to over $1 billion in
U.S. exports.
At a signing ceremony at the Department of
Transportation and Communications (DOTC), USTDA
provided a grant to conduct security
vulnerability assessments at three major
airports in the Philippines. This technical
assistance will help Philippine airport
operators maintain safe environments that can
foster commercial activity, tourism, regional
economic integration and foreign investment.
During the ceremony, DOTC's Undersecretary for
Planning & Project Development, Rene K.
Limcaoco, highlighted the project's timeliness
– as the Philippines is modernizing its
airports and upgrading its aviation safety and
security procedures in order to host the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in
2015.
The opportunity to conduct the USTDA-funded
technical assistance will be competed through
Federal Business Opportunities. A link to the
FBO announcement will be posted to USTDA's
website at www.ustda.gov. Interested U.S. firms
should submit proposals according to the
instructions in the FBO announcement. USTDA
also awarded a grant to the Aboitiz Power
Corporation (APC), which manages distribution
utilities throughout the Philippines, to
develop a smart grid roadmap and implementation
plan for the Visayas region. This technical
assistance, which will be undertaken by ESTA
International, LLC (Herndon, VA), will help APC
minimize distribution losses and improve access
to reliable power. During the grant signing
ceremony, the company emphasized that the
project will help ensure system resiliency to
limit the impact of natural- and human-caused
disasters – which is especially important in
light of the powerful typhoon that struck the
Philippines in November 2013.
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