Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan (seated, center) witnessed the signing of an MOU on technical cooperation and exchange of information among MPTC, Japan Expressway, Central Nippon Expressway and Metropolitan Expressway at the PLDT Press Room recently. MPTC president and CEO Rodrigo Franco (seated, left) and JEXWAY president Koji Kuroda (seated, right) signed the MOU and were joined by (from left, standing) MPTC chief communications officer Romulo Quimbo Jr., NLEX Corp. president J. Luigi Bautista, NEXCO-Central managing officer Takeo Nakamura, MEX executive officer Hiroshi Dobashi and JEXWAY senior director Toru Suzuki.

By: The Philippine Star, as seen on https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2019/05/21/1919646/metro-pacific-tollways-japan-expressway-companies-sign-accord, May 21, 2019 – 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — A consortium of major Philippine and Japanese expressway players recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on technical cooperation and exchange of information regarding areas of mutual interest in their respective expressway systems.

Witnessed by its chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan, Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) executed the MOU with Japan Expressway International Co. Ltd. (JEXWAY), Central Nippon Expressway Co. Ltd (NEXCO Central) and Metropolitan Expressway Co. Ltd. (MEX) to commence the exchange of information on engineering expertise and technology and cooperate on matters concerning designing, building and managing expressways.

Covered by the MOU are asset management and repair of at-grade and elevated road and bridge sections, tunnel design and construction and the use of best practices to monitor the structural performance of expressway assets and facilities, including technical audits to address all kinds of conditions and requirements.

MPTC president and CEO Rodrigo Franco said “we are very happy to sign this technical cooperation agreement with JEXWAY, NEXCO Central and MEX as this will allow us to tap into the wealth of Japanese road engineering experience and technology” and perhaps help “in our roadways to make sure that we are able to survive future earthquakes” given Japan’s own history of similar natural disasters.

For his part, JEXWAY president Dr. Koji Kuroda said, “Japan lies on the so-called ‘ring of fire’ and volcanic eruptions are very common.” During disasters, “operations and maintenance is key” as the expressways are the most important infrastructure in the region.

MPTC is the largest toll road developer and operator in the Philippines in terms of annual average daily traffic and combined length of the expressway network. MPTC’s tollway concessions include the North Luzon Expressway, the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway, the Cavite Expressway, the NLEX Connector, the Cavite-Laguna Expressway and the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway. MPTC also has significant investments in tollway companies in Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand.

JEXWAY has been established jointly by five Japanese expressway companies to develop global expressway projects. Together with other Japanese institutions, JEXWAY has led international efforts to take advantage of the technology and know-how cultivated by Japan’s expressway companies over the past 50 years.

Signing as witnesses were J. Luigi Bautista, president and GM of NLEX Corp.; lawyer Romulo Quimbo, senior VP for communication and stakeholder management of MPTC; Toru Suzuki, senior director JEXWAY; Takeo Nakamura, managing officer of NEXCO Central and Hiroshi Dobashi, executive officer of MEX.

After the MOU signing, MPTC, JEXWAY, NEXCO Central and MEX jointly conducted a seminar attended by each other’s technical teams focusing on engineering, ETC toll collection systems and commercial areas development.