Last April 27, 2011, the Money Market Association of the Philippines had its first General Assembly Meeting for the year at the Grand Ballroom of Intercontinental Manila.
MART’s outgoing President, Miss Joan G. Policarpio of Deutsche Bank, delivered the opening remarks. She proudly recounted the significant inroads MART made in 2010 towards the development of the Philippine interest rate market. In a symbolic act of passing on the torch of the Presidency, the floor was given to this year’s MART president, Miss Mariquita L. Agena of Metrobank. Miss Agena opened her speech expressing high hopes for the association and emphasizing this year’s main thrust: “Getting things done”. To highlight this, she enumerated some of MART’s projects in the pipeline – peso yield curve proposal to the Central Bank, MART’s feedback regarding Circular 599, and the exciting Interbank CCS Swap Market.
After Miss Agena’s encouraging speech, the traditional induction of newly-elected MART Directors followed, which formally paves the way for the continuation of the excellent job previous MART Directors have done.
The highlight of the event was a speech by the night’s guest of honor, Sec. Cayetano W. Paderanga, Jr., Director-General of the National Economic Development Authority. At the heart of Sec. Paderanga’s presentation was his discussion of the Aquino administration’s socio-economic agenda. The agenda’s main thrust is the creation of more jobs and opportunities for Filipinos, which may very well lead to poverty alleviation – and the primary vehicle the government would tap for this goal is the PPP or Public-Private Partnership. In this regard, the government aims to create an enabling environment for private sector investment.
Sec. Paderanga pointed out that the government’s main strategy to attract foreign investors, and ultimately job creation is the PPP Program. In the Philippines, the principal engine for growth is the private sector. Thus, incentives will be given out by the government to encourage resources from the private sector to finance its different projects. The various government agencies that are included in the PPP initiative are – Department of Finance, Department of Trade and Industry, and the National Economic Development Authority.
Some PPP projects in the pipeline mentioned by Sec. Paderanga are:
Solicited
Unsolicited
Other Projects for 2011 Rollout
– MRT/LRT Expansion Program: LRT 1 South Extension Project
– CALA Expressway – Manila Side Section (27.5 km)
– New Bohol Airport Development
– Puerto Princesa Airport Development
– Privatization of Laguindingan Airport Operation and Maintenance
– LRT Line 2 East Extension Project
Solicited proposals are processed within 6 months and other qualified PPP proposals must complete all the necessary documents before they can be approved.
After the presentation of Sec. Paderanga, an open forum followed. The panel of discussants was composed of Mr. Roland Avante of Sterling Bank, Mr. Paul Favila of Citibank and Mr. Raul Tan of RCBC.
During the program, a number of awardees were also acknowledged. The Presidential Awards for 2010 were received by Mr. Dalmacio D. Martin of Banco De Oro, Joselito G. Nazario of Philippine Veterans Bank, Horacio E. Cebrero III of Philippine National Bank and Miss Maria Margarita Wong of BDO. Furthermore, the Leadership Award was awarded to the outgoing MART President Miss Joan Policarpio.
Shortly before the program ended, Miss Agena presented a Token of Appreciation to the Guest of Honor & Speaker, Sec. Paderanga. The closing remarks were conveyed by Horacio Cebrero, MART Vice President and Treasurer of PNB. The MART General Assembly Meeting ended with market executives and players excited of what’s in store for 2011.
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