DBP renews ties with Singapore firm to advance sustainable infra solutions
BUTUAN CITY -- State-owned Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) has renewed its agreement with Infrastructure Asia (IA) as both agencies map out strategies to implement sustainable solutions aimed at improving the country’s infrastructure landscape and fast-track economic growth and recovery, a top official said.
DBP President and Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel G. Herbosa said the bank signed a memorandum of understanding with InfraAsia to expand the scope of its current collaboration to include key areas of the economy such as renewable energy, transportation, waste management, and water supply and sanitation.
“DBP and InfraAsia have broadened the
scope of the partnership to include the provision of technical assistance in
the development, finance and implementation of infrastructure initiatives of
the private sector,’’ Herbosa said. ‘’The identification of emerging
infrastructure solutions such as solar energy merchant market and green
buildings are also now within the scope of our expanded cooperation with
InfraAsia.’’
DBP is the fifth largest bank in the
country in terms of assets and has a network of 131 branches and 14 branch-lite
units. It provides credit support to four strategic sectors of the economy –
infrastructure and logistics; micro, small and medium enterprises; environment;
social services and community development.
InfraAsia was set up by Enterprise
Singapore and the Monetary Authority of Singapore in 2018 to enable good-fit
solutions from companies and institutions in addressable infrastructure
sub-segments in Asia, catalysing project development, financing and execution
opportunities to meet the region’s growing needs. It links up organizations
that are domain experts in their respective fields with governments, firms, and
multilateral institutions.
Herbosa said DBP can benefit from
InfraAsia’s solid relationship with multilateral institutions such as the Asian
Development Bank and the World Bank Group, as well as the Singapore
Business Federation to spur project collaborations, adding that the Bank “… can
leverage on InfraAsia’s collective capabilities and networks of various
government agencies to catalyze more trade and investments into infrastructure
in the region..”.
He said this latest collaboration with
InfraAsia is expected to boost both public and private sector spending on
infrastructure to further boost the country’s economic recovery while
generating much-needed job opportunities.
“Our partnership with InfraAsia bodes well
for DBP moving forward as we continue to support initiatives that seek to
address the country’s infrastructure gaps and lay the foundation for a
competitive and resilient Philippine economy,” Herbosa said. (DBP/PIA Caraga)
