2 global banks offer to help RP attract investors

Global investment banks Lehman Brothers and Credit Suisse have offered to assist the Arroyo administration in its effort to attract investments after three similar agencies were tapped for the same purpose last week.

The Arroyo administration will be holding an international roadshow in March to prop up the investment image of the Philippines. In the last two years of the Estrada administration, many foreign investors had either been pulling out or downscaling their operations.

The representatives of the two investment banks met with government economic managers last week after investment bankers JP Morgan, Chase Manhattan and Morgan Stanley committed their resources for the roadshow.

The same officials said they would be holding a teleconference with prospective foreign investors as an initial salvo prior to the international roadshow.

"We have to observe the market first before we start the roadshow. We want to know what they want."

They said recent pronouncements by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank have sent positive signals to the world business community. "The new government should take that as a cue to move faster in regaining investment interests," they added.

The five global investment banks are expected to draw a lot of attention from foreign investors who decided last year to look at other Asian countries for business opportunities when the former Estrada administration was accused of graft and corruption and bribery. – Ted Torres