Government wants to attract global investors for PPP

MANILA, Philippines - The Aquino administration aims to attract global investors to its Public Private Partnership (PPP) program for infrastructure in an upcoming conference to be held from Nov. 17 to 19.

Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima told reporters yesterday that the government would introduce a revitalized framework for public-private partnership during the conference. This involves project financing and risk allocation in structuring as well as project monitoring.

He also assured prospective investors that the Philippines under the Aquino administration would ensure a level playing field.

 “There’s a new sheriff in town and the private sector knows he means business. No secret deals, no under the table transactions. Everything will be done in broad daylight. That’s the big difference. That’s the message we’re sending out during the conference,” Purisima said.

He said that implementing agencies such as Departments of Public Works and Highways and the Department of Transportation and Communications would also be presenting their pipeline of infrastructure projects for possible private-public partnerships as well as their planned timelines for bidding out these projects.

Purisima has high prospects for the project, saying that the partnership has been a tried and tested formula in many parts of the world.

“The PPP agenda is a strategy to address the lack of infrastructure in the country. Public Private Partnerships in infrastructure is a strategy used all over the world to augment and complement public investments in infrastructure,” Purisima said.

The milestone conference, to be held at the Manila Marriott Hotel in Pasay, will examine investment opportunities, profiles of PPP projects in the Philippines, as well as policy, regulatory, and legal concerns in developing the infrastructure sector in the country.

Purisima said the partnership would enable the government to provide funds for other areas and sectors in need.

 “The new government is faced with decade-old problems which have discouraged private sector investments in infrastructure. We’re not saying this will be fixed overnight but we’re saying that we know the problem and the entire economic team is aggressively finding ways to solve these problems soonest. We are committed to build the institutional framework that will allow government to smoothly undertake PPP transactions,” he said.