Diokno pitches investment opportunities in Maharlika Investment Fund, PH Islamic finance to Saudi business leaders

Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno has made a strong pitch for investment opportunities in the Philippines’ Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) and Islamic finance before top Saudi business leaders during a roundtable meeting on October 19, 2023 at the St. Regis Hotel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

“Right at the beginning of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.’s administration, the Philippine government set its sights on establishing institutions for long-term investments with a singular vision – a better quality of life for generations of Filipinos to come,” he said.

The MIF is in line with the Marcos, Jr. administration’s 8-Point Socioeconomic Agenda for poverty reduction and Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023 to 2028 for deep economic and social transformation.

The Fund was designed to catalyze economic development and accelerate the country’s growth by optimizing the use of government financial assets and promoting their intergenerational management.

“To achieve this, Maharlika aims to attract capital from both domestic and global equity investors, including large funds here in the Middle East seeking to diversify its portfolio in fast-growing emerging markets like the Philippines,” Secretary Diokno said.

Investments in the Fund will be used to fasttrack the implementation of the Philippines’ some 197 high-impact infrastructure flagship projects (IFPs) worth around US$ 153 billion.

“The Fund also presents exciting opportunities for green and blue investments, ESG-linked fixed-income instruments, and cutting-edge technologies with the advent of artificial intelligence and cloud computing,” Secretary Diokno shared.

The Finance Secretary also expressed optimism on working with other sovereign wealth funds to partner with and learn best practices from.

Governing the Fund is the Maharlika Investment Corporation (MIC) which has an authorized capital stock of around US$ 8.9 billion––US$ 6.6 billion are common shares for subscription of the National Government and its instrumentalities, while the remaining US$ 2.2 billion are preferred shares open for subscription of the National Government, as well as reputable private financial institutions and corporations.

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