World Bank will extend technical, financial assistance to PH—Binay

Vice President Jejomar Binay. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The World Bank has considered extending technical and financial assistance to help the Philippines reach its housing targets, Vice President Jejomar Binay, also the chairman of the Philippines’ Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council,  said Tuesday.

Binay attended the 5th Global Housing Finance Conference in Washington D.C. and met with World Bank Executive Director Rogerio Studart from May 29 to June 3. He said he is glad to announce that the World Bank “has acted positively on our requests and that steps will be taken to see to their immediate implementation.”

“I encouraged the World Bank to consider extending both technical assistance and financial assistance to the Philippines, namely in the implementation of our program to build sustainable housing communities,” Binay said.

He said the assistance will be allocated for the construction of housing communities in New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa, North Triangle in Quezon City, San Miguel New Town, and Welfareville in Mandaluyong.

The technical assistance, Binay said, was sought for the improvement of the loan program for the homeless poor, and for the formulation of a policy that will encourage rural banks to open a special window on housing and micro finance.

Official visit to Malaysia

Together with 35 business leaders from the Philippines, Binay was also in Malaysia from May 27 to 29 in a mission to secure the interest of the Malaysian business community into exploring more investment opportunities in the Philippines, specifically in agriculture and agribusiness, housing, finance, tourism and infrastructure.

“And I am happy to report that there is renewed enthusiasm about the Philippines. Lahat po ng aking nakausap, negosyante man o mataas na opisyal ng pamahalaan ng Malaysia, ay nagagalak sa nangyayari sa Pilipinas,” he said, adding that they are “willing” to increase their investments in the country.

His visit was considered as the first high-level visit to Malaysia in five years.

“The Malaysian business community, to use their own words, is very excited about the Philippines,” he said.

He said Malaysia’s “excitement and enthusiasm,” was expressed following the revival of the Malaysian-Philippines Business Council and the successful holding of the Philippines-Malaysia Investment Partnership Forum where he was the keynote speaker.

“I believe my interaction with the Malaysian business community has further fueled their enthusiasm,” the vice president said.

While in Kuala Lumpur, Binay also said he witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the MTD group of Malaysia, the Isabela Power Corp. and Greenpower Resources Corp. for the construction of nine mini-hydro power plants in Isabela with a cost of $240 million.

“These power plants are expected to generate and add about 80 megawatts to Luzon’s electric power grid, and will be implemented within a period of three years,” he said.

In his meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib Razak, Binay said the strong political interests between Malaysia and the Philippines can only grow stronger in the years ahead.

“Our partnership is not only bilateral but also regional and through ASEAN and BIMP-EAGA we have strong institutions that offer maximum opportunities for political and economic cooperation,” he said.

In 2011, Malaysia ranked as the Philippines’ 9th largest trading partner, with total trade amounting to US$3.83 billion.  In the same year, Malaysia stood as the Philippines’ 11th largest export market, with exports valued at US$1.396 billion; and the 8th largest import market, with imports valued at US$2.438 billion. From 2005 to 2010, Malaysian investments in the Philippines reached US$203.03 million.