Phl, Saudi funds in earnest talks

As Gulf nations expressed interest in investing in the Maharlika Investment Fund, or MIF, the Philippine government began in-depth negotiations with the Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund.

In a roundtable interview with the reporters on Saturday morning (Manila time), President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the discussions on the MIF "proceeded very quickly" after he met with Saudi Arabian officials and business leaders.

"I am very encouraged and quite happy by the fact that the reaction that we got from our partners in Saudi Arabia and in other countries have been very encouraging, and they really want to have the opportunity to help and participate in our investment fund because we've shown that this is a truly good investment for them," Marcos said.

The President said the concept of a sovereign wealth fund for the Philippines is becoming "more and more attractive" as the government talks to more prospective partners.

He expressed confidence the fund will be operationalized soon, once the government starts talks in detail with other investment funds, governments, and private corporations.

"That is precisely the role that we have envisioned for the sovereign fund, the Maharlika Fund, and that is the direction that it has taken, and again, our partners have become, have been very, very encouraging in their reaction to what we presented to them," Marcos said.

Enacted in July this year, the Maharlika Investment Fund was established to use government assets for investments to enhance public finances.

Before heading to the ASEAN-GCC Summit in Saudi Arabia, Marcos suspended the implementing rules and regulations of the MIF in order, he said, to study it some more. Government technocrats said it was to make it more transparent.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of the Treasury and the Department of Finance on Saturday confirmed Saudi Arabia's interest in the MIF.

"In general, we received a lot of good feedback from our counterparts during that visit," said BTr officer-in-charge Sharon Almanza in a forum last Saturday.

Finance Undersecretary Zeno Abenoja said the Saudi Arabian firms' interest in the MIF reflected the same enthusiasm exhibited by Dubai and Qatar over the fund.

"The business communities both in this recent visit and the previous ones expressed their huge interest in the Maharlika Fund during their discussions with the Philippine economic team," he said.

Abenoja said investors' contributions to the fund from the private and overseas sectors could not yet be specified in numerical figures.

"Right now, it's difficult to have a good estimate because we're just starting to promote the fund. But strategic partners could be domestic investors and foreign investors," Abenoja said.

He explained that the proceeds from the sovereign fund will be used to augment government funds for high-impact projects, especially infrastructure projects.

"It's the additionality aside from the government resources being used to finance, for example, the 197 infrastructure flagship projects worth more than P8 trillion," Abenoja said.