THE NATIONAL government will ask foreign investors to pool their assets into a large fund that will invest in big-ticket infrastructure projects of the Aquino administration, according to Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday, President Aquino?s top economic adviser disclosed that he would lead a team of economic managers on an international roadshow in the coming weeks to drum up support for the fund.

?What we?re asking for from the private sector is a Philippine-focused infrastructure fund to help fund our PPP initiative,? he said when asked to elaborate on the President?s State of the Nation Address policy statement on the use of the so-called Public-Private Partnerships as the main mode of improving the country?s infrastructure network.

?We?re meeting with potential players in this space,? he added.

Purisima explained that there were, at present, several Asia-based fund managers who are focused on investing in infrastructure projects.

He said his team would initiate talks with these fund managers and ask them to allocate a portion of those funds ?specifically for the Philippines.?

?We can sell this to potentially interested parties so that there will be capital and resources available for projects in the Philippines,? the finance chief said.

The idea of a Philippine infrastructure fund is not a new one, with previous administrations having tried to drum up support for private-sector funded projects through the state-owned National Development Corp.

The latest incarnation of this idea proposed by the Arroyo administration as recently as last year was the allocation of P50 billion for the NDC, which would be used as seed money for big-ticket infrastructure projects. Under this scheme, the cash would be raised by selling bonds to the public.

Purisima acknowledged that the funding requirement for President Aquino?s infrastructure program would be nothing short of massive.

?Infrastructure is a substantial investment so this will be in the hundreds of millions of pesos,? he said, when asked about the potential size of the fund.

At the same time, the finance chief assured investors who will fund infrastructure projects that they can expect fair treatment from the government, especially when it comes to realizing a return on their investments, as well as in terms of policy stability.

?We?re solid in our belief that we need to invite investors to our country,? Purisima said. ?Investors need a fair return as payment for their capital and the risk they?re taking. We need to make sure that we simplify the processes.?

One step in this direction, he said, was the initiative of the Department of Trade and Industry to streamline the approvals process for foreign investments and to cut red tape.