Manila Water Co. eyes more, bigger projects in Vietnam

MANILA, Philippines—Ayala-owned Manila Water Co. is eyeing more business ventures in Vietnam.

In a chance interview at the Philippines Vietnam Business Forum last week, Manila Water president and chief executive Gerardo Ablaza Jr. said the company would like to focus on Vietnam for its future international ventures, as it was already familiar with the Vietnamese culture and regulatory landscape.

When embarking on a project overseas, a lot of critical factors had to be considered: type of government and regulatory framework, culture and availability of capable human resource, he said.

Manila Water’s next project in Vietnam would be bigger than its current one and would require actual equity infusion from the company, he said.

“We’ve been in Ho Chi Minh for three years now, so we know how to operate in that market. We’re prepared to undertake higher risks because we’re confident that we can be successful, given our experience,” he said. “Our countries of target are those that have similar structures to the Philippines. Right now, we’ll be focusing on Vietnam.”

Manila Water has a live performance-based leakage reduction and management services contract with Saigon Water Corp. or Sawaco. The P15-million non-revenue water management project is funded by the World Bank and is under the Vietnam Urban Water Supply Development Project.

Since the award of the contract in 2008, Ablaza said Manila Water had been exceeding its service level targets. Other projects in Ho Chi Minh, bigger ones, were in the pipeline for the company.

“There are proposals in the pipeline, similar to the (Sawaco) Zone 1 arrangement, but covering a bigger territory. This one will have some equity investment on our part,” he said.

Manila Water was likewise awaiting the result of its bid for a project in Bangalore, India.

He declined to reveal details of the project, saying only that it was for bulk water supply and that the contract should be awarded by this month.

Manila Water has a partnership deal with New Delhi-based Jindal Water Infrastructure Ltd. for the development of water businesses in India, including water supply, wastewater treatment and certain environmental services.