JTTRI International Seminar on"Railway and Area Development in Manila"
Mr. Hikasa’s speech
Thank you for kind introduction and invitation to this wonderful seminar,
Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am Yasaburo Hikasa, from Railway
Bureau, MLIT.
First of all, as one of supporters, I am pleased to say that, with attendance offrom DOT H.E. Secretary Tugade, Mr. Magno, General Manager of PNR,
Undersecretary Batan, Undersecretary Lontoc from PRI, from Japan,
Ambassador Mr. Haneda and many other VIPs, today JTTRI hosts thisinternational seminar on Railway and Area Development “here” in Manila. I
would like to thank you, a big audience for wonderful atmosphere.
The Republic of Philippines, its population increases to over 100 million andhas enjoyed remarkable growth at the annual rate of 6% GDP. Especially here,
Manila has 10 million population and is one of the biggest cities in Asia.
I have not been in Manila since 1999. 20 years have passed, yesterday I moved
around with my colleagues, and took a ride of LRT and MRT. I am so surprised tosee skyscrapers standing like a wall, historical views of old towns, energetic
atmosphere. It is not changed; Philippines People is always energetic. I fullyrecognize the recent rapid development in Manila. But I often see road congestion
everywhere. Well. More mass transport system is necessary to accommodate
these traffic. What is that? Of course, Railway.
Japan, since 1990s, has been providing continuous support to the urban railway
development in Manila Metropolitan area. We acknowledge famous slogan which
President Duterte promotes // “build, build, build”. Under his strong leadership, ofcourse along with Secretary Tugade, you are fostering infrastructure development
energetically. Especially most of planned projects are related to railway. I am very
happy with that.
I could pick up some projects, but today I may discard it. Many projects related
to construction or equipment related. Not only that, Personnel related projects are
there. MRT line3 rehabilitation project and establishment of Philippine railway
institute, those are related to human resource development. That is a reallywonderful thing to do. Japan and Philippine are cooperating each other and carryout those projects vigorously. Japan will definitely do utmost support tocontribute to further development of the Philippines, through “Qualityinfrastructure”
If we take a look at the future of urban development, “sustainability” is thekeyword. As he United Nations pursue “Sustainable Development Goals”, it is anurgent need to secure sustainability. For further urban development, what can we,to can you do?
I raise 3 [S]. The first S - A shift to public transport, roads cannot accommodate
city with 10 million people. Clean, and comfortable public transport is needed.
And, of course, the 2nd S – is Seamless transport network. A enhanceConnectivity between railway lines and other mode of transport. If you could use
IT technology, it would be wonderful. The 3rd one, maybe it is today’s topic
seminar, Stations centered development. It should be noted that city development
should be planned and well coordinated with railway plan from the beginningstage.
Those 3 S will realize Sustainable city development based on public transport.
And it should also be noted that once infrastructures are build, the problem is how
to sustain. Public sector role is quite important. Especially in terms of allocationof risk between private and public sector. Both should work together forsuccess.
The balance between private and public sector is really important.
In this regard, I am looking forward to today seminar discussion. Here are somany experts from Japan and Philippines. Of course, Prof. Dr. Morichi fromGRIPS, Undersecretary Batan and other experts in this area will join.
I believe that today is the very good opportunity for both Philippines and Japan
to discuss and think deeply to take further steps for development of Manila
metropolitan area. I would like to conclude my speech by hoping that today’s
discussion will be fruitful and cooperation between both countries will be further
strengthen.
Thank you very much.