MANILA: The United States' foreign assistance agency Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) has started talks with Philippine officials for the threshold program. MCC Chief Executive Officer Alice Albright said she met with Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Ralph Recto last Feb. 1, more than a month after the MCC selected the Philippines as an eligible country for the threshold program. 'So we spent the time with Secretary Recto and his colleagues really talking through the process and what the next steps are and how we get started. And in part, we'll start working with the government on some diagnostic work to figure out what some of the key challenges might be,' Albright told reporters during a press briefing at Fairmont Hotel in Makati City on Friday. She said the initial meeting with the DOF would help both parties identify which programs in the Philippines will receive grants from MCC. The MCC is a bilateral United States foreign aid agency established by the U.S. Congress in 2004. It provides th ree types of grants: compacts, threshold programs, and concurrent impacts for regional investment. For compacts, eligible countries receive financial aid from MCC for programs targeted at poverty reduction and stimulating economic growth. Threshold programs are smaller-scale grants focused on improving policies. Concurrent compacts, on the other hand, promote cross-border economic integration, trade, and collaboration. 'The first step will be for the government to appoint what we call a national coordinator, which is the main counterparty that we will work with. But we can work as quickly as the government is able to work going forward, and we expect we've had some very good initial conversations, and we expect things to unfold very very quickly,' Albright said. MCC grants financial aid to developing countries that are committed to good governance, economic freedom, and investing in their people. The Philippines was a threshold recipient from 2006 to 2009 with MCC grants amounting to USD20.7 million. T he Philippines threshold program targeted policy areas measured by two MCC eligibility indicators, Control of Corruption and Fiscal Policy. Meanwhile, the country received its first compact grant of USD434 million which concluded in 2016. Albright said the Philippines should remain committed to strengthening its governance to continue benefitting from the threshold program or elevate its status to a compact partner. Source: Philippines News Agency Suvarnabhumi Airport, AOT is preparing to receive tourists during Chinese New Year. The number of people using Suvarnabhumi Airport has doubled from last year's Chinese New Year, supporting Self Check-in Kiosks 6 hours in advance, eliminating the need to wait for a long time. Mr. Keerati Kitmanawat, President of Airports of Thailand Public Company Limited or AOT, revealed that the travel atmosphere at Suvarnabhumi Airport This year's Chinese New Year festival is starting to get bustling. There were twice as many passengers coming to use the service than in the same period last year, or 206%, showing that various government measures, including opening the country Free visas between China, India, Kazakhstan bring tourism back to life. In addition to last year's Chinese New Year China has not yet fully opened up the country. which when the country started opening up in the middle of last year China is also paying more attention to Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore. In addition, earlier this year, AOT launched a Self Check-in Kiosk and an automatic baggage loading system (Self Bag drop) to help reduce waiting time in lines. You can check in up to 6 hours in advance. Check-in takes no more than 5 minutes if you don't have to wait in line. It's different from checking in at the counter 3 hours in advance and may have to wait in line for 30-40 minutes. Recently, 24 airlines have joined the service, providing service at 200 points throughout the airport. and will increase to 300 points if we receive feedback from additional airports to use them. Currently, the proportion of passengers using such machines is 17%, which AOT has set a target of 50%. AOT is ready to respond to the government's policy of being an aviation hub. After the aviation market became more active To compete with Singapore and Hong Kong To attract airlines Turn to use Thai airport services Mr. Keerati also mentioned the opening of the SAT-1 building, which will be fully operational in September 2023, that there will be more tourists interested, fro m the previous 20 flights per day. At present, this has increased to 50 flights and is expected to increase to 400 flights by the middle of this year. Currently, there are 18 airlines using the service at SAT-1. They can add 28 parking spots from the original 51 or increase. 60%, which AOT's goal is to cancel the use of gate buses on international flights. Source: Thai News Agency
