A photograph shows a sign of the World Economic Forum (WEF) at the Congress centre on the opening day of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on Jan. 16, 2023. (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI / Agence France-Presse)
MANILA, Philippines — The World Economic Forum (WEF) is a great venue for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to present the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) to see the reception of other countries to the proposed sovereign wealth fund, a Filipino-Canadian economist said on Monday.
“The president can gauge the interest of other countries, how it [will be] received by the audience when the President presents the MIF,” Dr. Michael Batu said in the televised Laging Handa public briefing.
Prior to his departure to Davos, Switzerland, to participate in the WEF meeting, Marcos had said he would discuss the proposed sovereign wealth fund of the Philippines with world leaders attending the WEF.
Batu said the president should mention possible areas of MIF’s “directed investments” such as agriculture, digitalization, energy and climate resiliency, so that he could discuss them with WEF participants, get some advice, and also learn the best practices in running sovereign wealth funds.
“This will help in improving and refining the current version of the [proposed legislation on the] sovereign wealth fund, while it heads to the Senate this month,” added Batu, an assistant professor of economics at the University of the Fraser Valley in Abbotsford, British Columbia.
House Bill No. 6608, or the MIF Act, was approved on the third and final reading by the House of Representatives on Dec. 15. The measure was transmitted to the Senate four days later.
Under the bill, the MIF will be an independent fund that would adhere to the principles of good governance, transparency, and accountability.
It would be sourced from the investible funds of select government financial institutions (GFIs), contributions of the national government, the declared dividends of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, and other sources.
Strategic investments
The fund will be used to invest on a strategic and commercial basis in a manner designed to promote fiscal stability for economic development and strengthen the top-performing GFIs through additional investment platforms that will help attain the national government’s priority plans.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros, however, said on Monday that President Marcos would just make himself “look amateur” should he pursue his plan to pitch the MIF at the Davos forum.
“The bill establishing [MIF] has not yet been deliberated at the Senate. Isn’t it jumping the gun to be talking about it in front of world economic leaders?” Hontiveros said in a statement.
“The discussions will be frivolous and the concept is full of fissures. The president will just look amateur,” she warned.
Echoing the view of Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III, she said it would be premature to have a “soft launch” of the MIF at the conference.
“There is nothing to present,” the opposition lawmaker reiterated.
“Indeed, it makes sense to talk to an international audience about a domestically-oriented sovereign development fund if there is already a portfolio of attractive projects that have been assembled. But we don’t have that yet,” she pointed out.