Representatives from local and international banks, financing institutions, government, development partners, investors and embassies joined the public-private partnership (PPP) forum last April 24 in Makati.
The event tagged as Invest PPPs @PH: Bridging The Financial Gap, Exploring Partnerships was organized by the PPP Center in cooperation with BPI Capital Corporation, Macquarie Capital, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, SunLife Financial,BDO Capital and Investment Corporation and HSBC Philippines.
PPPs and policy reforms
During the forum, Economic Planning Secretary and NEDA Director-General Arsenio M. Balisacan, highlighted the different measures the government instituted and the importance of public-private partnership in the country’s infrastructure development.
“The current administration has achieved major achievements in infrastructure development. In addition to the government’s priority programs and projects, several non-structural reforms…including the revision of the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Law Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) and the Joint Venture (JV) Guidelines, have been pursued to streamline government processes, to make the business environment conducive to investments, and to address constraints and bottlenecks in infrastructure provision”, he said.
“Through private sector investments under the country’s pioneering PPP Program, public resources can be freed up and be utilized for the provision of much needed social services”, he added.
PPP Center Executive Director Cosette V. Canilao also shared to the participants in the forum some of the government’s initiatives that helped in the successful tendering of ppp projects and in putting together a robust pipeline of projects.
“The government thru the PPP Center also worked on formulating and adopting key policies that addressed some weaknesses under the current legal and regulatory framework’, she said.
“To name a few, we have worked on providing government policies on Pipeline Development, Viability Gap Funding, PPP Best Practices, and Termination Payments”, she added.
As of April this year, there are currently about 50 projects in the pipeline worth over USD 23 billion. The line-up includes fourteen projects currently under tender such as the Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike Project worth over USD 2.7 billion, the New Centennial Water Source Kaliwa Dam Project – USD 400 million, the regional airports project collectively worth more than US 2.5 billion, Regional Prison Facilities project costing USD 1 billion, and the Davao Sasa Port Modernization project (USD 422 million).
“Let’s work together and be aggressive”
BDO Capital President Eduardo Francisco appealed to local banks to take advantage of the present opportunities in the country in the financing and funding of PPP projects.
“It’s more for the local banks side. You’ve heard earlier that we need to be more aggressive. I guess it’s true so in a way take advantage while the liquidity and funding is there then use us because at a certain point, admittedly, our liquidity might dry up”, he said.
He also encouraged local and international companies to team up and participate in the country’s ppp projects.
“It is also a call for you to start thinking about teaming up, local bank and a foreign bank, because the deals are getting large, and we really have to work together”, he stressed.
“I just want to encourage you, it’s a great market to be in, we know the players, and we hope to see you more”, he said.
Meanwhile, David Gardner, Associate Director-Project Finance of HSBC Hongkong, shared the present development in world infrastructure today.
“Infrastructure in general is a big thing globally. There is a lot of numbers being thrown out there. By 2030, people are talking about $60 trillion dollars worth of infrastructure investment”, he shared.
He added that all the infrastructure projects should be implemented and not be tainted with politics.
“My recommendation is to get it done…even there is a lot of money put on the table, left on the table we have to look at the future…We can’t use these projects as politics”, he said.
Mr. Gardner also cited Canada as one of the best in terms of implementing infrastructure projects that other countries can emulate.
“They just have the very simple, very transparent, very clear, very quick approach to the market… The deals close quickly”, he said.
He also underscored the value of the different infrastructure projects in different countries because these will benefit the future generations.
Meet and Match
The forum was divided into four sessions. It provided the participants insights and latest developments in Philippine bond market, project financing of PPPs – challenges in Emerging Markets, infrastructure, utilities and renewables, importance of sovereign guarantees for PPPs, and the creation of a suitable environment for infrastructure investment to attract institutional investors to the country’s PPPs.
The last part of the forum was the meet and match session. Foreign and local investors visited the different booths set-up by banks and financing institutions during this part of the program. It provided a venue for investors to meet with various banks and financing institutions for possible collaboration and finance opportunities. It was also a chance for foreign investors to discuss possible partnership with local companies to participate in the country’s public-private partnership projects.
The event is so far the biggest forum on PPP for the first half this year in the Philippines, having been attended by more than 200 participants. More PPP fora and investment roadshows, local and international, are already being planned to encourage more companies to invest in the country’s ppp projects.
