Philippines-China infra co-financing issues resolved, says Dominguez
Published August 28, 2018 1:32pm
By JON VIKTOR D. CABUENAS, GMA News
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/money/economy/665698/philippines-china-infra-co-financing-issues-resolved-says-dominguez/story/
Chinese officials affirmed last week that they are willing to co-finance Philippine infrastructure projects, the Department of Finance (DOF) said Tuesday.
“Clarifying that they’re willing to do co-finance, clarifying that they’re willing to finance in Renminbi rather than just dollars ... Those are the things that we discussed,” Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III told reporters on the sidelines of the 2018 EJAP Economic Forum in Manila.
Dominguez, along with other members of the administration’s economic team, was in Beijing on August 22 to 24 to meet with Chinese officials.
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The Philippine delegation included Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar, and Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) president and CEO Vivencio Dizon.
They met with China’s State Councilor and Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi and Commerce Minister Zhong Shan, China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) Director Wang Xiaotao, Export-Import Bank of China (China EXIM) Chairperson Hu Xiaolian, and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) president Jin Liqun.
“The meetings were extremely productive,” Dominguez said, but did not give out specific details on the agreements made during the meetings.
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Dominguez said in July that securing official development assistance (ODA) from China has been delayed by the reorganization of the Chinese government early this year.
Last June, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia floated the idea of going for a shift in financing mode for some infrastructure projects if there are delays in securing ODA from China and Japan. —VDS, GMA News