PBBM previews PH investment pool before forum delegates in Davos
Philippine officials on Wednesday said participants at the World Economic Forum (WEF) reacted positively to the proposed sovereign wealth fund that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. presented in Davos, Switzerland.
During the Philippines’ Country Strategy Dialogue at WEF in Davos, Mr. Marcos said the process for the establishment of the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) was already underway.
“Such a fund is one tool among many in our efforts to diversify our financial portfolio, which includes our existing institutions pursuing investment that will generate stable returns, but also welfare effects spanning employment creation, improvement of public service, and a decrease in costs of economic activities,” Mr. Marcos said.
The bill proposing the establishment of the MIF has already been passed by the House of Representatives and heads to the Senate for debates.
Under the proposed measure, the MIF will draw funds from various government financial institutions, contributions from the national government, declared dividends of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and other sources.
The fund, its proponents say, will be used to invest in key areas that will contribute to economic development.
Speaker Martin Romualdez said the keen interest shown by global leaders in the MIF strengthened the argument to speed the passage of the bill to create the sovereign wealth fund.
“The swift passage of House Bill No. 6608, creating the Maharlika Investment Fund, enabled the President and the Philippine delegation to take advantage of the enormous opportunity to showcase the positive developments in our country and creative strategies to gain growth momentum,” Romualdez said.
Senator Mark Villar, who is part of the official Philippine delegation in Switzerland, said many of WEF attendees expressed interest in the Philippines and its proposed MIF.
“They were very interested in the Philippines and in the sovereign wealth fund as they see it as a way to help the country hasten development,” Villar said.
The Senate leadership said the MIF is among the priority bills the chamber will work on when Congress resumes session this month.
Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno, said the proposed MIF would help fund the Philippines’ infrastructure projects.
“We have many infrastructure projects that need funding,” Diokno said in Filipino. “We borrow from Japan, China, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank to fund these. Now if we have the MIF, we can use it to fund these projects.”
Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said chief executive officers (CEOs) of big companies from Asia and Europe were impressed by the country’s growth rate.
“They were especially impressed when we told them our economy is growing at a rate of 6.5 percent to 7 percent,” Bautista said.
“They said that’s a very good performance,” he said.
Grab Chairman and CEO Anthony Tan hosted a dinner for President Marcos on Monday.
The President’s investment pitch for the Philippines received “a very positive response” from some of the world’s top CEOs and investment experts, officials at the function said.
The Marcos administration expects a strong full-year gross domestic product (GDP) growth for 2022, most likely much faster than its growth target of 6.5 to 7.5 percent, according to the Finance chief.
For this year, President Marcos said the government projects the country’s economy to grow by around 7 percent.
“Our actual projection is 6.5 but there are signs that we might be able to surpass that,” Marcos said.