OFFICIALS from the Philippines and China are set to firm up new agreements on infrastructure cooperation, which would include the Duterte administration’s projects under the “Build, Build, Build” (BBB) program, according to the Department of Finance (DOF).
The DOF said in a statement that the series of meetings between Philippine and Chinese officials this week will focus on the continued coordination between Manila and Beijing on flagship projects under the BBB program.
The Philippine delegation to Beijing led by Executive Secretary Salvador C. Medialdea will meet with top officials of China’s Ministry of Commerce (Mofcom) on Tuesday.
The DOF said that the delegation is also set to meet with Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan.
Other members of the Philippine delegation are scheduled to meet separately with officials of the Export-Import Bank of China (EximBank) and the China International Development Cooperation Agency (Cidca), the office in charge of reviewing and implementing Beijing’s foreign aid projects.
On March 20, a Philippine Economic Briefing will be held in Beijing to showcase to potential investors the vast opportunities available to them in the Philippines as it emerges as an economic powerhouse in the region. A previous PEB was held in Shanghai in September 2017.
In a separate event, National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon told reporters that the issuance of Panda bonds will still depend on market conditions despite mounting a PEB and a nondeal roadshow for the issuance in Beijing, as well as four other cities in China.
“Of course, we are going to woo not only the onshore [investors] but also the offshore investors because they have the bond connect. Remember the last time we had very significant subscriptions from the offshore investors,” de Leon said. Earlier, de Leon said that the government is eyeing the Panda bond issue in April this year.
In March 2018, the Philippine government issued three-year Panda bonds worth 1.46 billion renminbi (RMB), fetching a spread of only 35 basis points over the benchmark.
With the Bond Connect scheme, offshore investors comprised 87.7 percent of allocation, representing the highest offshore mix for any Panda issuer.
Image credits: Grafikwebvideo | Dreamstime.com