The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
The Philippine Public-Private Partnership Center (PPP Center) and International Project Finance Association (IPFA), with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and The Philippine Stock Exchange Inc. (PSE) held a PPP forum, titled Accessing the Philippine Capital Markets for PPPs–Innovations in Infrastructure Financing, last Friday at the New World Makati Hotel.
The PPP Forum, sponsored by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), was the culminating activity of a series of roundtable discussions and workshops where select government officials consulted with the private sector on their investment issues and constraints on PPP projects.
The main objective of these activities is to produce policy proposals, innovative reforms and regulatory framework that will strengthen, enhance and bolster capital market funding for PPP projects.
As in previous PPP roundtable discussions and workshops, the event attracted an audience of investors, financial institutions, government agencies and other major stakeholders in the PPP program.
The PPP forum is divided into three major panel sessions showcasing discussions on government’s initiatives towards accessing capital markets for infrastructure and PPPs; unlocking a key alternative in PPP financing through listing of equity securities; and providing impetus for the issuance of PPP project bonds.
The panelists included Hon. Teresita J. Herbosa, chairman, SEC; Cosette V. Canilao, former executive director, PPP Center; Vida T. Chiong, deputy commissioner, Insurance Commission; Gil A. Buenaventura, president and CEO of the Development Bank of the Philippines; Cesar B. Crisol, president and CEO of the PDS Group; Hans B. Sicat, president and CEO, and Roel A. Refran, COO, of the PSE; David J. Nicol, CFO, Metro Pacific Investments Corp.; Sergio G. Edeza, senior vice president and treasury head, San Miguel Corp.; Lynn Tho, partner and Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) infrastructure advisory leader, Ernst & Young Solutions LLP; Atty. Ana Ma. Katigbak-Lim, partner, Castillo Laman Tan Pantaleon & San Jose law firm; Valery Tubbax, head of power and infrastructure advisory, Investment Banking Asia, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp.; James Harris, partner and global head of infrastructure, Hogan Lovells; Frederic Thomas, senior investment specialist, ADB; Justino Juan R. Ocampo, executive vice president and Investment Banking Group head, First Metro Investment Corp.; Bonifacio M. Banzon, director and head of project finance, Bank of the Philippine Islands; and Vicente Graciano P. Felizmenio Jr., director, market and securities regulation, SEC.
The panel sessions were moderated by Vaughn F. Montes, PPP risk management expert, ADB; Ed Roche, advisor on infrastructure finance and capital markets, the United States Treasury; and Valery Tubbax.