Some Canadian firms are planning to visit the Philippines in August or September to explore possible investment opportunities, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said over the weekend.

Diokno said the Philippine government initially had talks with the investors during the US-Canda roadshow held July 10 to 14.

“We look forward to sustaining conversations with the investors we met in the US and Canada. Some of them are expected to come to Manila in a month or two,” Diokno said during his weekly chat.

The Finance chief said economic managers conducted a successful series of investor meetings in New York and Toronto.

“We also held a larger Philippine Economic Briefing in Toronto — our first in Canada — with an audience of 88 Canada-based businesses, pension fund managers, investment management companies, and financial institutions,” said Diokno.

“It was encouraging to see a mix of fixed-income investors, infrastructure funds, asset management companies, mining companies, and pension fund managers take a keen interest in the Philippines, which many described as a standout among emerging markets,” he added.

Diokno said key areas of interest were mining, renewable energy, ESG (, social and governance) issuances, transport infrastructure, and the Maharlika Investment Fund.

The mining industry, in particular, took the spotlight in many of the investor meetings, he said.

“This is not surprising, given Canada’s position as a global leader in mining and renewable energy. I shared that we can contribute in a big way to the global supply chain, given the Philippines’ vast reserves of nickel, copper, gold, chromium, and iron,” Diokno said, adding that these critical minerals are in high demand for the development of clean technologies.

According to Diokno, part of the tour to New York and Toronto is to describe the Philippines and inform investors about the government’s move to open up many sectors.

These include allowing 100 percent foreign ownership to sectors such as telecommunications, shipping, toll roads, and renewable energy.

“There’s a lot of interest in those areas. Especially Canada is known for clean energy and mining. Canada is one of the top mining countries. The whole world is also interested in EVs (electric vehicles),” said Diokno.

He said the delegation to visit in August or September is from the mining and renewable energy sectors and pension fund managers.

“Each group there has a pension fund, teachers, police, they have separate pension funds. They actually decided to go Southeast Asia because they do not have exposure here so they will explore whether investments in the Philippines are worthy,” said Diokno. (PNA)