A high-ranking official from one of Japan’s leading financial institutions has expressed strong interest in backing the proposed Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) .
Thus, bared House Speaker Martin Romualdez in an interview Friday night, Feb. 10 with members of the Philippine media at the Hotel Okura in Tokyo.
According to the House leader, he met the Japanese senior official during a dinner held Wednesday night for President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. and the Philippine delegation. The dinner was hosted by Mitsui and Metro Pacific Investment Corporation.
“It was during our conversation that he expressed strong interest (in the MIF) and in the possibility of investment in the proposed sovereign wealth fund, particularly for the power sector,” Romualdez said.
Among others, the MIF is intended to help achieve the “Agenda for Prosperity” and the objectives of sustainable and inclusive growth and attract additional investments for big-ticket infrastructure projects and other development programs of the government.
Romualdez said the interest shown by the Japanese senior financial official in the MIF is significant because the latter played a key role in setting up Indonesia’s own sovereign wealth fund (SWF) known as INA (Indonesia Investment Authority).
Reports said that since its launch in February 2021 and with initial funding of $5 billion from the Indonesian government, INA had raised more than $20 billion of co-investments from other foreign parties by the end of 2022.
The Speaker said that according to the Japanese official, the growth prospect of the proposed MIF is “potentially higher” compared to INA.
“So that’s very good, that we're getting support,” said Romualdez, one of the prime movers of the MIF.
He didn't reveal the Japanese official's identity.