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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