Philippines may look forward to French aid

MANILA, Philippines—The Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD) is willing to extend at least 100 million euro in loans to the Philippines yearly, AFD country director Luc Le Cabellec told reporters.

AFD is France’s implementing agency that allocates official development assistance to developing countries.

The loan program would support projects and programs aligned with the priorities of the Philippine Development Plan for 2010-2016.

As a long-term loan provider, AFD cannot simply focus on the situation of the Philippines for the next 12 months but must take a multiyear view, Le Cabellec said.

“The tenor of our loans is minimum of 12 to 20 years. It’s long, so we are not targeting short-term activities. We hope to in fact enter into a long-term relationship with the Philippines,” he explained.

AFD’s development assistance, Le Cabellec said, could benefit several sectors such as transport, water supply, sanitation and forestry.

AFD’s motto, he said, is to foster a “low-carbon growth path” for the countries it supports.

However, the AFD does not set “pre-determined envelopes” for the countries it supports, he noted.

“It really depends on the macro-economic situation and the request from the Philippine government. It has to be aligned with the Philippine Development Plan,” Le Cabellec said.

AFD first engaged the Philippine government in 2010, partnering with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to fund the country’s financing and budget reform program.

In the last 18 months, Le Cabellec said, AFD has been working with the Aquino administration to identify projects that the French aid agency can finance.