EU lending arm eyes infra projects in Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — The lending arm of the European Union (EU) has expressed interest in co-financing various infrastructure projects in the Philippines, according to Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno.

Diokno met with the European Investment Bank (EIB) in its headquarters in Luxembourg. Diokno is in Europe for the Global Gateway Forum.

Diokno said the EIB is interested in partnering with the Philippines to co-finance infrastructure and other sustainable projects.

“The EIB has already started looking into the Marcos administration’s Build Better More projects that are aligned with the EU’s priority areas,” Diokno said.

“These include climate, digital connectivity, sustainable cities and regions, and renewable energy,” he said.

As the EU’s lending arm, the EIB is the biggest multilateral financial institution and one of the world’s main financiers of climate action and environmental sustainability.

Diokno mentioned to the EIB the 197 infrastructure flagship projects, prioritized by the government, which the bank can co-finance.

In a related development, the governments of the Philippines and Luxembourg tackled opportunities to expand cooperation in physical and digital connectivity, renewable energy, and sustainable finance.

This comes after Diokno had a meeting with his counterpart, Luxembourg Minister of Finance Yuriko Backes.

Diokno said Luxembourg has a strong commitment to invest in renewable energy, sustainability efforts, and gender equality.

Alain Kinsch, Consul General of the Philippines to Luxembourg and president of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSE), said the European country’s financial center has a lot to offer to both economies.

Despite limited exposure of the Luxembourg economy to the Philippines, the country’s dollar and euro-denominated global bonds are listed in the LuxSE, with the earliest listing dating back to 1992.

“With its sovereign sustainable bond issuances, the Philippines has helped pave the way for sustainable finance in Southeast Asia, and our role is to promote these sustainable investment opportunities to the international investor community,” LuxSE CEO Julie Becker said.