ADB's loan for airports

ADB's loan for airports

MANILA (AFP): The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Tuesday that it had approved a US$93 million loan to upgrade six airports in the southern Philippines.

The loan will improve the airports of the municipalities of Puerto Princesa, Cotabato, Sanga-Sanga, Dipolog, Butuan and Pagadian with an emphasis on safety improvements, the ADB said in a statement from its headquarters in Manila.

It will include upgrading and extending runways, improving air navigation and safety facilities, expanding cargo facilities, constructing new passenger terminals, rehabilitating existing facilities and providing new equipment.

The total cost of the project is $167 million with the European Investment Bank expected to provide co-financing of $29 million, the ADB said.

The project is intended to support the government's peace initiatives with armed Moslem groups as well as boost a Philippine scheme to integrate the economies of the southern Philippines with nearby areas of Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia.