Foreign investors express keen interest in PHL—BCDA

The state-owned Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) said foreign real estate developers have expressed interest  in investing in the Philippines during the recently held  2^nd Urban Land Institute (ULI) Asia Pacific Summit in Shanghai, China.

BCDA president and CEO Arnel Paciano D. Casanova who attended the ULI summit said the word is out in the global investment community that the Philippines  has achieved investment grade status and has recorded the highest GDP in the region.

“With the recent investment upgrade, sound economic fundamentals and the good governance being carried out by the Aquino administration, the country is now being seriously considered as an investment haven,” Casanova said.

He said  the Aquino administration’s efforts in curbing corruption has played a key role in increasing investors’ confidence. “We are now going towards the direction that the Philippines treats every business with fairness and transparency in a level playing field,”  Casanova said adding that “good governance is good economics.”

Casanova  who is also the chairman  of the government’s Philippine Investment Promotions Plan (PIPP) Steering Committee said the BCDA was the only non-Chinese exhibitor in the summit that gathered together some 400 real-estate developers in Asia-Pacific region.

He said that the BCDA team that attended the ULI summit highlighted the various properties of the BCDA group in  Bonifacio Global City, Bonifacio South, Clark Special  Economic Zone that includes the Clark Green City, Clark International Airport, the Poro Point Freeport that includes the San Fernando Airport and the Poro Point Seaport, John Hay Special Economic Zone, and the Atmanda Tourism and Leisure Park located inside the Bataan  Technology Park at the Morong Special Economic Zone.

“We got an overwhelming response from various international real-estate firms on our properties and we expect them to visit the country soon to see for themselves the investment opportunities in the country,” Casanova said.

He said the BCDA is now focusing to create an environment that is friendly and open to foreign investors and tourists. He pointed out that BCDA is also aggressively promoting  the development of the needed infrastructure  for investors such as  airports and seaports  because these are the gateways for international businesses to come in. “The Philippines is open to international business,” Casanova said.