Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno met with Australian Ambassador to the Philippines HK Yu and Australia’s Special Envoy for Southeast Asia Nicholas Moore to explore deepening Philippine-Australian cooperation on areas such as privatization of airports, development of the mining industry, and agriculture technology.

Yu and Diokno both took to Twitter to thank each other for the support for the P4I initiative.

The meeting was held on the sidelines of the official launch of Australia’s Partnerships for Infrastructure (P4I) initiative on Friday, March 24 at the Conrad Manila, Pasay City.

“Together with @SecBenDiokno and Special Envoy to #SoutheastAsia Nicholas Moore, we launched the (Australia-Philippine) Partnerships for Infrastructure in the Philippines today. P4I will support the Philippine government’s ambitious infrastructure goals and drive inclusive economic growth,” the ambassador wrote.

For his part, Diokno said the P4I “complements” the Marcos administration’s “Build Better More” infrastructure program.

“Through the P4I, the PH can benefit from Australia's expertise in strengthening financing strategies, regulatory frameworks, and tech choices – particularly in green tech – to ensure the development of quality and modern infrastructure,” the secretary posted.

He added that Australian officials “have noted that the President has demonstrated his commitment to rapid infra dev't through the regulatory reforms,” such as the amended Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Law Implementing Rules and Regulations, amended Investment Coordination Committee (ICC) guidelines on public-private partnership (PPP) approvals, and revised National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Joint Venture Guidelines.

“These will ensure an enabling environment that allows for faster approval of PPP projects, ensures compliance with best practices, and better implementation of infra projects,” Diokno, who posted a photo with the Australian officials, said.

The Philippines is one of Australia’s longest-standing bilateral partners, with diplomatic relations spanning 77 years.

Philippine-Australian cooperation covers trade, investment, defense, security, and development, underpinned by strong people-to-people linkages.