SWEDISH ambassador Annika Thunborg on Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023, expressed Sweden’s interest in partnering with Mandaue City in the latter’s program for sustainability and a green economy.
Although nothing has been formalized yet, Thunborg said Sweden can extend its technical know-how in various sustainable projects like mass transportation, waste management systems, smart city development and other sustainable programs.
“We hope to work much more closely with Mandaue City. We’re very impressed with your activities and the business chambers and with all the actors that are involved here. There are interesting projects that are ongoing and of course, the very strong commitment by your mayor,” said Thunborg during her keynote speech at the Mandaue Business Summit 2023 in Marco Polo Plaza Cebu.
The Mandaue Business Summit is the flagship project of the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI).
Thunborg, who arrived in Manila in 2021 to take up her post as Sweden’s Ambassador to the Philippines, already met with the MCCI and Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes in September last year.
She said Mandaue City is an ideal candidate for future collaboration because of its proactive local government unit and private sector.
“We see this as a very productive beginning of hopefully a longer relationship. There are a lot of possibilities and a lot of ideas. The chamber is very active and, of course, we are like-minded. Mandaue as a city has won different awards for sustainability and smart city development. I’ve been in different events where I have spoken and Mandaue is often the city that gets a prize or is a winner, so that bodes very well for the future,” said Thunborg in a media interview.
The Swedish government has no projects in Cebu yet as far as the green economy is concerned, but Thunborg said among those discussed during their previous meetings were projects centered on sustainable transportation, waste management, and waste energy.
Sweden is one of the world’s champions in sustainability. A Nordic country with more than 10 million population, it ranked second in the UN Sustainable Development Report and the Global Innovation Index, and topped the Global Sustainable Competitiveness Index.
Mandaue City, over the years, has been pushing for various sustainable projects.
One of them is giving tax incentives to those who construct buildings that contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and minimizing the impact of buildings on health and the environment.
Among the famous green building structures in Mandaue are Gatewalk Central Superblock in Barangay Subangdaku and International Pharmaceuticals Inc. Tingub branch in Barangay Tingub (three-stars BERDE certified) and the Mandani Bay Suites Tower 1 and 2 in Barangay Centro, the first-ever five-star green building in Cebu and Central Visayas.
BRT, sustainable infrastructure
Sweden’s recent sustainable infrastructure project in the country includes the $1 million grant to conduct the bus rapid transit (BRT) feasibility study in Iloilo City by a Swedish business group, Business Sweden.
The Swedish government is also working closely with the Department of Transportation (DOTr) for the improvement of the Edsa Busway in Metro Manila.
“We have a big profile in sustainable transportation. We have built BRT systems in many big cities, all over the world, and also in medium-sized cities. We have different tools in our toolbox and we also have companies that can provide the solutions. So we have become experts on that on a worldwide scale,” Thunborg said.
Asked about the ongoing Cebu BRT project, the diplomat believes the project is a first step in a sustainable transportation system.
“I’m not familiar with the details, but of course, I think that it is very important for Cebu to have a BRT,” she said. “It’s the first step in a sustainable transportation system in a city like Cebu, which is quite densely populated.”
But for a BRT system to successfully work, Thunborg said it needs to have standardized buses, standardized stations, and a timetable that is centrally planned or coordinated by a coordinating authority.
She said a timetable should be “very strict” in terms of when the buses arrive and depart.
“Everyone has to be part of the system. The operators and the services can be private, but the planning really has to belong to the city,” the envoy said.
The $228.5 million Cebu City Bus Rapid Transit (CBRT) System Project, which broke ground in February this year, is expected to be fully operational by the second quarter of 2025, with partial operations eyed as early as the fourth quarter of 2023.
The Cebu BRT is composed of a 13.18-kilometer bus lane in Cebu that runs from Mambaling to Cebu IT Park. It is seen to serve up to 160,000 passengers daily in its full operations in 2025.
Approved on Sept. 26, 2024, the project seeks to reduce travel time for public transport and commuters from origin to destination; increase economic productivity with ease in transporting goods and services; reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions; and provide an equitable access, convenient, comfortable, safe and secured public transport system.