De Venecia, who arrived here yesterday for a two-day visit, rallied fund managers from the United States, Hawaii, and Japan to help develop the fund concept which the House leader had earlier discussed with Timothy Harbert, president of the State Street Global Advisors (SsgA), one of the world’s top fund investment managers, superintending more than $720 billion.
Harbert discussed with De Venecia the fund concept and the Philippine Recovery Fund which the American strongly endorsed during their breakfast meeting in Manila earlier this week.
The fund, De Venecia explained, will be patterned after the Thai recovery fund being developed with ADB assistance and utilized to rebuild industrial and agri-business companies affected previously by the Asian financial crisis and by the burden of servicing the dollar debt caused by the peso deterioration from P26-$1 to P53-$1.
These businesses, he explained, remained viable, except for their inability to service debt.
De Venecia discussed the matter briefly with President Arroyo before leaving for Honolulu and will begin discussions with Finance Secretary Jose Isidro Camacho and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Gov. Rafael Buenaventura upon his return.
He said if the first two $250-million tranches are successful, the Philippine fund would be built up to $1 billion.
De Venecia also said the breakthrough peace agreement and reunification of the two mainstream Muslim separatist groups in Mindanao – the MILF and MNLF – in Kuala Lumpur and the signing of an initial peace accord between the MILF and the Philippine government would completely isolate the extremist Abu Sayyaf in Sulu and Basilan.
He said the accords will have a strong calming effect in Mindanao and the nation, restoring stability that would foster a better investment climate to spur the Philippine economic recovery.
De Venecia also said he had conferred on the phone with exiled National Democratic Front leader Jose Ma. Sison and revealed the stalled talks between the Philippine government and the NDF-New People’s Army would soon resume following the positive developments in Mindanao.
De Venecia was on the verge of working out a final peace agreement between the NDF and the Philippine government in 1998 until overtaken by his defeat in the 1998 presidential elections.
During the mid-1990s, the House leader was at the forefront of peace negotiations that resulted in historic peace accords with rebel soldiers of the RAM-YOU and the secessionist Moro National Liberation Front led by Nur Misuari. Both peace pacts restored political stability and allowed the economy to grow steadily during the Ramos presidency until the onset of the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
While in Hawaii, De Venecia was scheduled to meet with the State’s acting governor, Mezie Hirono, Hawaii Senate President Robert Bunda and Speaker of the House Calvin Say and its top business leaders.
The Speaker’s schedule is being coordinated by Mark Mukei of the McCorriston Miller-Mukai offices, and Hawaiian entrepreneurs Jack Borja, Val Perolf, Michael Trifero and Ernest Watan.
Earlier in the day, the Philippine leader addressed a conference of US, Japan and Hawaii fund managers and investors on the need of an Asian multi-purpose fund to invest in agri-business, information technology and tourism projects, and the development of small and medium industries to fight poverty in the Asia-Pacific region.