The Australian government is looking to “drum up” interest among Australian companies in the controversial yet reported plans to privatize Philippine airports, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said. In a Facebook post, the PCO disclosed that airport privatization was one of the topics during a meeting between Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno and Australian Ambassador to the Philippines HK Yu and Australia’s Special Envoy for Southeast Asia Nicholas Moore. “Ambassador Yu said that the Australian government is hoping to drum up interest among Australian companies in the possible privatization of airports in the Philippines,” the post read. PCO cited that under the recently amended Public Service Act (PSA), industries such as airports, railways, toll roads, expressways, and telecommunications are now open to full foreign ownership. The implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the amendments to the PSA was released on March 20, and will be effective on April 4. PCO also quoted Moore, who said that the Philippines can learn from the case of the privatization of Sydney Airport in 2002, which he called a success. “He argued that privatization has the potential to deepen the contribution of airports to economic activity through increased freight capacity and more links to the rest of the world,” the post read. The meeting between Diokno and the Australian officials happened on the sidelines of the official launch of Australia’s Partnerships for Infrastructure (P4I) initiative in the Philippines on Friday, March 24 at the Conrad Manila, Pasay City. Aside from the possible privatization of Philippine airports, which President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has already turned down, the officials also talked about the development of the country’s mining industry and agriculture technology. During the meeting, Yu shared that the Australian government is currently working with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Philippine companies through a series of mining missions to Australia. “The learning tours serve as an opportunity for Filipino mining stakeholders to learn more about Australian mining best practices,” the PCO said. Diokno also underscored the importance of cooperating with Australia in the field of agriculture as it is a key priority sector of the Marcos administration. Moore opened the possibility of the Philippines exploring Australian skills and technology in agriculture, stressing the latter’s expertise in agriculture technology and the use of renewables in power distribution, which is relevant in modern farms.