Acciona to expand investments in Philippines

MANILA, Philippines —  Acciona Infrastructure, a global leader in sustainable infrastructure, plans to expand its investments in the Philippines and continue collaborating with government and private partners on transformative projects.

The Spain-based company plans to “keep growing” in the Philippines, noting the attractiveness of the public-private partnership (PPP) model in the country, said Acciona CEO Jose Diaz-Caneja during the Pilipinas Conference 2024, a gathering of key government officials and top business leaders organized by the Stratbase Group.

The company currently has eight infrastructure projects in the Philippines including railways, bridges, expressways and water treatment facilities.

Its Southeast Asia headquarters is also located in Manila.

“We saw a pipeline of opportunities in different sectors of infrastructure, relocating the headquarters to Manila has been one of the best business decisions we’ve made in the region. We’re now executing our eighth project here. All of them have been successful,” Diaz-Caneja said.

“And we hope to be able to keep on growing in the country and in the region, leveraging our presence in the country. I think that, nowadays, no one has any doubt about the visibility and the attractiveness of the PPP model that has been developed in the Philippines.”

Acciona managing director for infrastructure Southeast Asia Ruben Camba recognized the efforts of the Philippine government to ensure the success of its infrastructure programs.

“I commend the way that the government is expanding the number of projects through multilateral banks, working with Asian Development Bank, the Japanese funds. This administration has also done a little bit more (in legislation) putting together the [revised IRR of the] BOT law, launching the PPP Code,” Camba said.

“We see a great future in the Philippines and this is why we are here. This is one of the markets for us. We really believe in the Philippines. Of course, we will have challenges and we need to work on that too,” he added.

Furthermore, both officials emphasized the importance of strategic collaboration with the government and local partners in the Philippines.

“All these would mean nothing if we would not have been able to have the straightforward friendship and collaborative relationship that we have had with our partners.