THINKING BIG

AS THE PRESIDENT OF BOUYGUES TRAVAUX PUBLICS PHILIPPINES, DOMINIQUE DRONIOU HAS THE KNOW-HOW TO MAKE A NEW WAVE OF EXCITING INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS A REALITY.

- ANNE MAJUMDAR

With an infrastructure boom currently underway in the Philippines, Bouygues Travaux Publics Philippines has entered the market at exactly the right time, according to the company’s President Dominique Droniou.

Infrastructure enhancements have long been necessary across the Philippines due to decades of underinvestment, but in Manila, the problem is particularly acute. Poor infrastructure has created a serious traffic congestion problem for the capital’s 14 million inhabitants. In fact, a report by location technology firm TomTom highlighted Manila as the city with the second worst traffic congestion out of 416 surveyed around the world. Another study by the Japan International Cooperation Agency revealed the country loses PHP3.5 billion (US$71.8 million) daily due to traffic congestion. An urban planner even estimated that Filipinos lose between nine and 15 years of their lives sitting in traffic.

These are shocking statistics but, thankfully, change is afoot. “Massive investment in infrastructure is underway, which is good news for us,” Dominique tells The CEO Magazine. Substantial investments in infrastructure are indeed being made, with many projects already underway.

In 2016, French-based Bouygues was appointed by the Light Rail Manila Corporation as the engineering, procurement and construction contractor for an extension of the Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT-1). A global player operating in more than 80 countries on five continents, the company is renowned as an expert in large-scale projects involving tunnels, engineering structures, as well as road, port and rail infrastructures.