Infrastructure Asia sees PHL as key market for investors

SINGAPORE-BASED project development facilitator Infrastructure Asia said the Philippines has become an increasingly attractive market for investors due to policies that support private sector participation.

In an interview with BusinessWorld, Devin Chan, deputy executive director of Infrastructure Asia, said the environment in the Philippines has become more encouraging for international private sector participation.

This includes policies allowing 100% foreign ownership in renewable energy projects, which he said have helped bolster investor confidence.

“Infrastructure buildup is expensive and the returns can be very long drawn… so there is a need to bring in private sector participation, and policies, I think, are in place to try to attract them slowly,” Mr. Chan said.

“The private sector, like our investors and developers, have identified the Philippines as one of the key markets for them in the last couple of years as well,” he added.

Infrastructure Asia is a project facilitation office established by Enterprise Singapore and the Monetary Authority of Singapore to support infrastructure development across the region.

Set up in 2018, it aims to attract private sector participation in infrastructure projects and focuses on six core markets: the Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, India, and Bangladesh.

The group works with governments, private companies, and commercial and multilateral development banks to build a pipeline of bankable projects and investment opportunities.

Mr. Chan said Infrastructure Asia prioritizes aligning project size with population needs to help ensure that infrastructure supports long-term economic growth.

In the Philippines, the group works with agencies such as the Department of Transportation and the Department of Energy to help identify partners for project development.

Mr. Chan said improved access to project information has helped facilitate faster project development.

“I think one of the key things that has been quite heartwarming is that it’s about project information transparency, it’s also about the level of openness to respond to questions and of course respond with good answers as well in that sense,” he said.

“So projects are getting more and more better prepared for procurement purposes or for engagement purposes with the private sector,” he added. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera