Discussion Paper
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Eight Challenges to Infrastructure Managers: Clarity of Functions
Carlo Francis V. Raymundo
Anna Mae T. Tuazon
December 2007
This paper discusses “Clarity of Functions” as first of the Eight Challenges (Eight C’s) to Infrastructure Management. The Eight Challenges were first introduced in the discussion paper entitled “Dynamic Infrastructure Management Toward a Competitive Asia” (2007) of the AIM Policy Center, which presented eight key areas of improvement to Infrastructure Management.
Clarity of Functions pertains to having predetermined goals and tasks that are clear and precise enough to guide the Infrastructure Managers’ actions and decisions. To ensure the effectiveness The characteristics of these goals and tasks should be as follows:
1. Provide focus and direction.2. Streamline processes.
3. Facilitate easier coordination within the Infrastructure Manager’s organization.
4. Become vehicles for more active and meaningful stakeholder participation in monitoring and evaluation.
Lessons on “Clarity of Functions,” along with those of the seven other challenges, can be imparted to Infrastructure Managers through an Asian Infrastructure Competitiveness Program that aims to encourage its participants to jointly identify strategies to improve Infrastructure Management practices in Asia.
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Strengthening the Role of Filipino Migrants in National Development
Carlo Francis V. Raymundo
Karen G. Goyena
Jhoanne L. Estipular
November 2007
The importance and potential of migrant workers in contributing to national economic development has long been recognized not only by the international community but also by the sending countries themselves. In the case of the Philippines, the role of the overseas Filipinos (OF’s) in national development has yet to be fully realized, and the total benefits from the migration phenomenon waiting to be harnessed.
Migrants mostly hail from developing countries and are most likely lured by the attractiveness of the high standard of living in the host countries compared to the situation in their home country. In the 2006 Migration and Development Conference in Brussels by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), it was cited that
"…migration is in many cases a response to discrepancies: discrepancies in political systems, in security, in demography and above all in economic conditions. Assisted by faster and cheaper transport, with the revolution in the speed and cost of communication and with the development of affordable global networks through which people learn easily about opportunities elsewhere, migration has increased and will continue to do so in the decades to come. Most of it will involve people moving from developing countries to developed countries.”
(Migration and Development Conference: 2006)
Competitive Power Rates for Ecozones Toward Competitive Power Rates for All
Carlo Francis V. Raymundo
Anna Mae T. Tuazon
July 2007
Electricity rates in the Philippines have been a deterrent to the competitiveness of local firms, which bear higher power utility costs than their counterparts in other countries. In the 2007 World Competitiveness Yearbook, the Philippines ranks 29 th out of 44 countries in terms of electricity costs for industrial clients. In order to create an enabling environment for business, quality electric power should be made available and affordable.
Among the hardest hit by the steep electricity rates in the Philippines are the large industrial users, which allocate millions of pesos in operating costs to cover power usage. A number of such organizations are located in the public and private economic zones across the country. While they are able to viably operate and significantly contribute to the country’s economy, many economic zone enterprises have continuously appealed for relief from the burden of high electricity rates in order for them to be more productive. The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), the government agency which oversees the successful operation of economic zones, for its part, is committed to address this issue, especially in the wake of a legal opinion issued by the Department of Justice, affirming PEZA’s regulatory function over its estates.
Dynamic Infrastructure Management Toward a Competitive Asia
Carlo Francis V. Raymundo
Anna Mae T. Tuazon
July 2007
The challenge of obtaining maximum benefits from infrastructure lies on the shoulders of Infrastructure Managers, such as the government/state, industry regulators, industry operators and end-users. This paper presents key areas of improvement, referred to as the Eight Challenges to Infrastructure Management.
Asian countries can address these challenges through a set of recommendations directed at having competitive infrastructure through sound management, as presented in this paper.
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