i TV Pinoy

Source: gmanews.tv

The Philippines will get a $30-million loan from a fund of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to maintain 10 major roads in the country.

OPEC Fund for International Development approved last week the loan for the Road Sector Institutional Development and Investment Program in the Philippines.

"The overall objective of the program is to preserve and maintain 356 kilometers of 10 national roads located in the west coast of Central Luzon, Southwestern Visayas, and northern coast of Mindanao," the Department of Foreign Affairs said Friday, citing a report from the
Philippine Embassy in Vienna.

It added the program supports the Philippine government’s efforts to rehabilitate and upgrade the country’s main transport corridor.

Upgrading the transport corridor will provide access to markets especially in isolated regions to alleviate poverty, enhance peace and order through transport and trade, strengthen national unity and promote tourism, the DFA added.

Components of the program include civil works, capacity development and program implementation support, for implementation in three years.

OFID is co-financing the program with the Asian Development Bank as the lead financing agency, the DFA said.

OFID is an intergovernmental development finance institution that seeks to promote cooperation between the member states of the OPEC and other developing countries.

It provides financial resources to assist developing countries in their economic and social development.