Pres. Aquino offers ‘wealth of opportunity’ for European investors

President Aquino delivering the keynote speech for the PPP Conference in Brussels, Belgium. (Photo by: Public-Private Partnership Center of the Philippines)

BRUSSELS, Belgium — President Benigno S. Aquino III urged European businessmen to invest in the Philippines, saying there is a wealth of opportunity for investors to forge new business partnerships in the country.

Speaking at the Conference on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Programs for Infrastructure Projects, President Aquino told business leaders that the transformation that is taking place in the Philippines coupled with economic reforms have leveled the playing field for all players, making the country a good investment destination.

“There is indeed a wealth of opportunity in the Philippines, and we hope to forge new partnerships or even broaden the existing ones in the near future—partnerships where all parties involved will benefit, and will contribute to the rise of Asia’s next tiger,” President Aquino said.

“As it turns out,” the President added, “all investors needed to see was a government dedicated to integrity and public service. We do not have to look beyond the area of public-private partnerships in order to see the transformation that has taken place in industry.”

As a result, the Chief Executive said, the world has taken notice of the government’s reform efforts.

From December 2011 to September this year, the Aquino administration was able to award some US.3 billion worth of projects under the PPP program.

The President also shared the solid economic achievements of his administration, including a GDP of 6.3 percent in 2010 as opposed to the 4.3 percent recorded from 2006 to 2009.

The GDP growth of the Philippines as of the second quarter of 2014 stands at 6.4 percent, and the government predicts the economy to hit its target of 6.5 percent to potentially 7.5 percent GDP growth by the end of the year.

According to the President, it has been “a very productive four years.”

“All of you know that PPPs are regarded as ideal ventures precisely because all parties do benefit from them: private enterprise can profit by putting their expertise and knowledge and other resources to good use; government is able to complete large-scale projects at a more opportune time for the benefit of the people,” he added.

“From the mere promise of reform that we gave businessmen back in 2010, today, the results of our good governance agenda have allowed us to come so far, as we stand in front of so many potential partners,” he said.