An official of the United Kingdom Trade and Investment (UKTI) office in Manila on Monday stressed the need for the incoming administration to continue with the vital infrastructure projects identified by the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Center, and honor the commitments that President Aquino and his cabinet have made.
“Elections are a risk as they always are in any country. But one thing I would urge is that whoever wins the elections next year, I very much hope that they will continue with the pipeline of projects that have already been identified and continue to roll those out,” said UKTI director Iain Mansfield.
“I think everyone would agree that the country needs to continue that investment in infrastructure. What everyone (investors) would worry about is if those plans would be set back for a couple of years and they would need to start from scratch again,” Mansfield said.
Such a commitment is considered crucial considering that the Philippines will be pitching today to UK firms based in Hong Kong more than $3 billion worth of infrastructure projects, which include regional airports, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) upgrade, the bulk water and Centennial water supply project and the Laguna Lakeshore expressway.
The Philippine Infrastructure and PPP Roadshow is spearheaded by Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima, Philippine Economic Zone Authority Director General Lilia de Lima and Transportation Undersecretary Rene Limcaoco. About nine companies will be part of the Philippine delegation, while about 40 UK companies are expected to send representatives to the investment seminars and networking receptions.
UK firms that confirmed to send representatives to the events included MET Studio Hong Kong; Mott MacDonald; Norton Rose and Pinsent Masons Systech International .
According to Mansfield, about half of these UK firms already have presence in the country, while the rest of the participants are either relatively new to the market or had operations in the Philippines back in the 1980s and 1990s but had to pull out then due to adverse economic conditions.
The UKTI is now looking at engaging these companies again to take a look at the Philippines anew. The target was to tap financial services of the UK firms for companies that are taking part of the PPP projects in the Philippines.
Mansfield noted that there had been increasing interest from UK firms in providing designs, financial and engineering services for Philippine PPP projects but some companies could not maximize the opportunities here due to existing Constitutional restrictions, specifically the 60-40 rule which allowed foreign companies to own only up to 40-percent interest in projects in a number of sectors identified by the law.
UK companies are renowned for delivering some of the best airport and aerospace solutions, and are sought after for their expertise in design, engineering and operations. These include Arup, which is involved in the Naia refurbishment project and the Mactan Cebu International Airport; BE Aerospace, which is at the forefront of aviation engineering and which has a galley manufacturing facility in Batangas; NATS, for air traffic management; Smiths Detection, for airport X-ray and security scanners; Zoeftig, which seeks to increase the comfort level of passengers waiting to board their flights through better seating; and G4S, which will provide enhanced and professional security services.