Marcos wants to ‘design, customize’ Maharlika fund to PH’s needs
ZURICH — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. kept the doors open for new suggestions on how to customize the proposed sovereign wealth fund to the country’s needs.
“The more we study it, the more it’s clear that although the sovereign wealth funds around the world have the same name, they’re all very different. They’re different in purpose, they’re different in methodology and of course, they operate in a different context of law,” Marcos said in a press briefing on Friday at the end of his week-long participation at the World Economic Forum (WEF) meetings.
“So we have to design it very specifically to the Philippine condition, and that’s what the legislators are trying to do now: to make sure that it is customized for us and it will be a good thing for us. So that’s the process that we’re undergoing now,” Mr. Marcos said.
In a chance interview with the media, House Speaker Martin Romualdez, who was part of the Philippine delegation, said the Maharlika fund became a “topic of discussion and interest” during their meetings with global investors.
“It is the vehicle that most countries, not just developed countries but developing countries, utilize to attract investments for development, for infrastructure projects that need a long gestation of capital investments into these ventures,” Romualdez said.
“This will guarantee solid returns, not just for the local investors, but of course, for the international investors from which we’ve already received substantial interest and well, concern in terms of what will be the final makeup,” Romualdez said.
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