President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri, House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez and Senator Mark Villar during the signing of the Maharlika Investment Fund bill. (FILE PHOTO)
MANILA, Philippines — Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said the country would welcome Malaysian investors to the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF), which seeks to establish a sovereign wealth fund and was signed into law last July 18.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Romualdez said that he will be part of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s delegation to Malaysia from July 25 to 27, and that MIF might be among the topics to be discussed with Malaysian businessmen.
Romualdez explained that MIF is “not only beneficial but necessary” since the country is a “growing economy that needs to entice foreign investors to ramp up the improving and recovering local economy.”
“Isipin mo na lang ‘to, kung mayroon kang kapital, ‘yung isang bansang may kapital, saan mo dadalhin? Eh ‘di siyempre dadalhin mo sa isang bansa kung saan mataas ‘yung growth, ‘di ba?” Romualdez said.
(Think about it, if you have capital, a country that has capital, where will you take it? Well, of course, you’ll bring it to a country where growth is high, right?)
“While the Philippines can also offer investment opportunities, we see that the cost of debt has risen, making the need to explore other vehicles to attract equity financing, such as Maharlika Investment Corporation,” he added.
“This will be a very, very important vehicle to attract more resources and investments into the country, to supplement our resources that are provided for in the national budget for developmental initiatives, infrastructure, in the power and agriculture sectors,” he added.