Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno
led the economic team in
meetings with key United Arab Emirates (UAE)
government ministries and
Dubai-based funds and
investors to explore increased trade and investment cooperation, Islamic
banking opportunities,
the Republic of the Philippines’ (ROP) upcoming
Sukuk offering, renewable
energy investments, and
infrastructure partnerships
as part of its two-day Middle East roadshow from
September 11-12, 2023.
Joining him were
Department of Budget
and Management (DBM)
Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman, National Economic and Development
Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan,
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Deputy Governor Francisco G. Dakila,
Jr., National Treasurer Rosalia V. De Leon, and BSP
Assistant Governor Arifa
A. Ala.
The economic
managers kicked off the
roadshow with a visit to
Nasdaq Dubai on September 11, where Secretary
Diokno led the ringing of
the bell and met with Nasdaq Dubai CEO Hamed
Ahmed Ali.
Nasdaq Dubai is
an international financial
exchange in the Middle
East that offers a unique
investor pool and utilizes
advanced technology in its
operations, setting it apart
from other stock exchanges.
Secretary Diokno, Secretary Pangandaman, Secretary Balisacan,
Deputy Governor Dakila,
and Philippine Ambassador to the UAE Alfonso
Ferdinand A. Ver also paid
courtesy calls on UAE
Minister of State for Foreign Trade His Excellency
(HE) Dr. Thani bin Ahmed
Al-Zeyoudi and UAE Minister of State of Financial
Affairs, Ministry of Finance
His Excellency Mohamed
Bin Hadi Al Hussaini.
The Philippine
delegation reaffirmed the
Philippines’ intent to commence and expeditiously
conclude the negotiations
of the Comprehensive
Economic Partnership
Agreement (CEPA) with
the UAE as a means to
deepen bilateral trade, investments, and economic
cooperation.
The Ministers expressed UAE’s openness
to forming trade alliances
and investments globally
despite geopolitical tensions and fragmentation.
Among the areas of interest are food security, agriculture, and renewable
energy (RE).
Later on, the economic team met with leading
global alternative investment management platform, Brevan Howard;
specialist emerging markets financial services
company, Arqaam Capital;
and the Government of
Dubai’s principal investment arm, Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD).
The companies
expressed interest in the
Philippines’ renewable
energy (RE) projects, port
operations, water and
wastewater management,
waste-to-energy projects,
upcoming Sukuk bond issuances, Islamic banking,
and the Maharlika Investment Fund.
The economic team also had small
group meetings with UAEbased funds to engage in
in-depth discussions on
the ROP’s plans to issue
Sukuk bonds — its debut
into the Islamic bond market – and other long-term
investment opportunities.
They met with
representatives from the
world’s first full service
Islamic Bank and one of
the largest global Sukuk
investors, Dubai Islamic
Bank (DIB); the 4th largest Islamic bank globally
by assets, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB); global alternative investment
management firm, Millennium Capital; one of the
largest and longest established asset managers in
the Middle East, Emirates
NBD Asset Management
(ENBD AM); private investment firm, Chimera
Investments LLC; the first
and leading Islamic bank
in the State of Kuwait,
Kuwait Finance House
(KFH); and one of the
Emirate’s leading private
sector investment houses,
Waha Capital.
National Treasurer De Leon said that
the issuance of the Sukuk
bonds will diversify the
Philippines’ sources of
financing, widen its investor base to reach the
untapped Islamic finance
market, and boost investments in physical and digital connectivity.
Following a successful USD 3.0 billion
multi-tranche ROP offering
in January 2023, the proposed Sukuk transaction,
to be scheduled sometime in the fourth quarter
of 2023, will partially fulfill
the ROP’s residual external commercial funding
requirement for the year.
BSP Assistant Governor Ala in turn
shared that the Philippines
has the right policy environment for Islamic banking to flourish and attract
foreign players.
The Philippines
enacted the Islamic banking law in 2019 to boost
financial inclusion of all
Filipinos, after which it
established the Shari’ah
Supervisory Board (SSB)
to issue Shari’ah opinions on Islamic banking
transactions and Shari’ah
products, as well as financial institutions and other
stakeholders as requested
by the BSP.
Non-Muslim Filipinos may also partake
in Islamic banking as it
expands the scope of financial transactions at
their disposal. These developments and a liberalized banking system pave
the way for foreign Islamic
banks to explore 100 percent ownership and operations in the country.
The funds expressed keen interest in
co-investment opportunities in infrastructure and
fixed-income instruments,
such as Environmental,
Social, and Governance
(ESG)-linked bonds,
through the Maharlika Investment Fund, which will
be operational by the end
of 2023.
The economic team looks forward to
touching base with the
funds and their portfolio
companies on the sidelines of the upcoming Conference of the Parties to
the Convention (COP28)
in Dubai this Decem
