Economic managers to brief prospective investors in Australia

MANILA, Philippines – Economic managers are set to brief current and prospective investors in Australia about the Philippine economy this month, a central bank official said yesterday.

“We are having a non-deal road show in Australia from Sept. 12 to 14. We have never had a non-deal road show in Australia,” said Claro Fernandez, chief of the investor relations office of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

The three-day event will be held in Sydney and Melbourne and will be attended by Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo, BSP Assistant Governor Cyd Amador, National Treasurer Roberto Tan and Cosette Canilao, chief of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center of the Philippines.

Philippine officials will provide investors “an update” of the Philippine economy aimed at luring them to invest in the country, Fernandez said in an interview. Expected areas of discussion include the PPP infrastructure projects and mining.

The activity, he said, is also targeted at “reaching out to fixed income investors” who may be holding or planning to purchase Philippine bonds. With more holders, Philippine securities could enjoy a more liquid nature which would allow it to get better market pricing.

“Of course, there are plans because we have a funding requirement. But as of now, nothing is final yet,” Fernandez said when asked if there are government plans to issue bonds abroad as part of its remaining $750-million commercial foreign borrowings this year.

The Philippines has been undertaking road shows to attract foreign investors to the country, especially on its centerpiece economic program, the PPP. Throughout the year, Fernandez said non-deal road shows were held in Europe last February, the United States in June and in Singapore just last week.

Next in line is a planned road show on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund in Tokyo, Japan this October.

Partner banks had been helping the country secure an audience with these offshore investors, Fernandez said. For the Australia tour, the Philippine government has tied up with the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, Morgan Stanley and Hongkong-Shanghai Bank Corp. (HSBC).

Australian-based Macquarie Group, which co-manages the biggest infrastructure fund in the country worth $625 million, has also provided assistance.

The Aquino administration has been dangling its good governance agenda in order to lure investors to the country, once tagged as Southeast Asia’s laggard. It particularly highlights its PPP program, which aims to capitalize on private sector expertise for large-scale infrastructure projects targeted at boosting economic growth.