Philippines eyes $1.2 bln in infra investment in 2011
MANILA - The Philippines wants investors to commit to at least 50 billion pesos to help fund road, airport and railway projects this year, although limits on foreign ownership may be an obstacle to the fund-raising plans. Officials said Manila planned to start launching tenders from June for 73 infrastructure projects worth around 1 trillion pesos under its public-private partnership programme.
"We are conservatively targeting infusion of 50 billion pesos from PPP projects this year," Cristino Panlilio, managing head at Board of Investment, told reporters after a pitch to diplomats and heads of foreign business chambers on Tuesday.
The government wants to tap private investors, both foreign and local, to help it fund infrastructure upgrades while freeing up cash in the budget for its social programmes.
Panlilio said the government wanted to attract $3.5 billion in foreign direct investments this year, including foreign funding for PPP projects, triple the 2010 level.
The forum was one of a series of pitches to investors for the PPP programme, including one for local business groups to be held on Feb. 17. Last month, a roadshow was held in Japan, and another will be held in the Middle East this month.
John Forbes, a senior adviser for Investment Climate Improvement Project at the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, said a concern with many of the projects was that as public utilities, foreign ownership was limited to 40 percent.
"Most investors want to have a control of their investments. That's a concern of everybody, no matter what the nationality is," he said.
"We should allow flexibility because you need capital, you need billions and billions of capital to build these projects."
As well, problems of corruption, contract disputes and worries about protection of funds means investors have largely bypassed the Philippines. The government says it is changing the investment environment to create a level playing field, but is yet to spell out how it plans to protect foreign investors.
The Joint Foreign Chambers in the Philippines said it wanted transparency in project tenders.
"We believe that all priority projects should be solicited and awarded through public bidding. Global experience shows that PPP investment best occurs under open, competitive conditions," the JFC said.
"We are conservatively targeting infusion of 50 billion pesos from PPP projects this year," Cristino Panlilio, managing head at Board of Investment, told reporters after a pitch to diplomats and heads of foreign business chambers on Tuesday.
The government wants to tap private investors, both foreign and local, to help it fund infrastructure upgrades while freeing up cash in the budget for its social programmes.
Panlilio said the government wanted to attract $3.5 billion in foreign direct investments this year, including foreign funding for PPP projects, triple the 2010 level.
The forum was one of a series of pitches to investors for the PPP programme, including one for local business groups to be held on Feb. 17. Last month, a roadshow was held in Japan, and another will be held in the Middle East this month.
John Forbes, a senior adviser for Investment Climate Improvement Project at the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, said a concern with many of the projects was that as public utilities, foreign ownership was limited to 40 percent.
"Most investors want to have a control of their investments. That's a concern of everybody, no matter what the nationality is," he said.
"We should allow flexibility because you need capital, you need billions and billions of capital to build these projects."
As well, problems of corruption, contract disputes and worries about protection of funds means investors have largely bypassed the Philippines. The government says it is changing the investment environment to create a level playing field, but is yet to spell out how it plans to protect foreign investors.
The Joint Foreign Chambers in the Philippines said it wanted transparency in project tenders.
"We believe that all priority projects should be solicited and awarded through public bidding. Global experience shows that PPP investment best occurs under open, competitive conditions," the JFC said.
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