The government is eyeing to launch its maiden Sukuk bond issuance either before the end of this year or early 2024.
In a press conference in Dubai held after the Philippine Economic Briefing (PEB) yesterday, national treasurer Rosalia de Leon said the discussion is ongoing with some potential underwriters in terms of the preparatory arrangements needed before the issuance.
“In terms of the tenor size, the sweet spot would be somewhere between the five… and the 10-year, because this would… be catering to small investors and at the same time to institutional investors,” de Leon said.
“As for the timing, we’ve been told that there would have to be a 12-week preparatory lead time that would be needed, so hopefully we can do this before the end of the year or if ever… first quarter of 2024,” she added.
“Since we are seeing a very liquid onshore market, we’re doing more funding from the domestic market, but given that, we also would like to continue the access to the international market,” de Leon added.
Meanwhile, the administration’s economic team is wooing potential investors in Doha, Qatar and Dubai, United Arab Emirates to explore investment opportunities in infrastructure projects in the Philippines, especially in Mindanao and the energy sector, which are key focus areas for the Philippine government.
During the PEB, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said support of foreign investors are much needed in physical and digital connectivity as well as clean energy.
National Economic and Development Authority secretary Arsenio Balisacan for his part said that the government will prioritize projects that will significantly reduce the cost of connectivity and power in Mindanao, improve the region’s resilience to shocks caused by climate change and raise Mindanao’s productivity as a growing agricultural and industrial hub.
“There has never been a better time to invest in the Philippines. Opportunities await not only in infrastructure, as mentioned, but also in our promising growth drivers such as agribusiness, mining, tourism, manufacturing, education, creative industries, healthcare, and the information technology and business process management (IT-BPM) sectors,” Balisacan told the potential investors.
Meanwhile, the Board of Investments (BOI), at the the MUFG-Security Bank 2023 Philippine Investment Business Seminar yesterday encouraged Japanese companies to consider the Philippines as their hub for smart and sustainable manufacturing and services in Southeast Asia.
Sectors eyed are in renewable energy development, agri-business, IT-BPM and healthcare.
In her presentation, Evariste Cagatan, BOI executive director , said Japanese manufacturing firms can consider the manufacture of RE equipment or devices or put up their own plants to generate power for their own use.
Japanese firms may now have full ownership of power generation projects using solar, tidal or wind power by virtue of the revised implementing rules and regulations on the Renewable Energy Act.
Cagatan said as Japanese automotive companies gear up to take part in the electric vehicle (EV) market, the Philippines offers not only its growing local market for EVs, as it starts to move for EV adoption in the country.
“ We are keen to establish the Philippines as a hub for EV manufacturing and assembly,” Cagatan said,
She also urged the Japanese firms to make the Philippines the primary production location for battery and battery precursors used for EVs as well as battery energy storage systems.
Cagatan also noted opportunities in agribusiness which has established global presence on key commodities for exports, such as cocoa based products, bananas and pineapples.
“Japan can be a partner in efforts to modernize these sectors by aiding the country in the production and value adding activities to advance agricultural technologies and logistics for which Japan has expertise and strong capabilities,” she said.
Cagatan is also encouraging Japanese firms to establish and operatestorage warehouses and temperature control logistics service not only for food, but also for pharmaceuticals and non food items.
Cagatan offered IT-BPM services to Japanese businesses which are shifting to cloud- based applications and which are collaborating with external partners for software development.
“We have a track record of collaboration with Japan in animation in the in development, so we hope to also establish partnerships in high value IT services with Japanese companies,” Cagatan said.
In healthcare, Cagatan said Japan’s production of innovative pharmaceutical products and medical devices can be hosted in the Philippines to serve the local market.
“We encourage Japanese firms to consider the manufacture of essential medicines, especially for the most common elements of Filipinos, which include diabetes, hypertension, kidney and heart diseases, cancer to name a few. Angela Celis and Irma Isip
