Agility to invest $10bn in the Philippines

BOOMING ECONOMIES: A shot of the Philippines' capital Manila. Gulf companies are looking to invest more and more in Asian countries. (Getty Images)

Kuwaiti firms including logistics provider Agility plan to invest more than $10 billion in infrastructure projects in the Philippines, the company leading the group said on Tuesday.

The firms and one non-Kuwaiti company plan to develop airports, ports, railways, power stations and telecommunications, Kuwait investment firm Al-Abraj Holding Company said in a statement.

The deal is pending a signing with the Philippine government expected at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, later this month, Al-Abraj Deputy chairman Sameer Nasser Ali Hussein told newswire Reuters.

The Philippines government has said it wants to invest 1.7 trillion pesos ($41 billion) in its power, water, telecommunications and transport industries by 2010. Last year, it offered 10 infrastructure projects worth $2 billion to foreign investors.

Gulf Arab states and companies, buoyed by record oil prices, have been looking to invest more in Asia, where economies are growing faster than in Europe and the US, traditional destinations for their surplus funds.

Qatar's $60 billion sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), said last month it plans to spend at least $850 million in Indonesia, its biggest commitment to the country.

Kuwait's Al-Abraj said the group would set up a holding company in Europe, of which the Kuwaiti partners would own 75% and British firm Argon, acting on behalf of Philippine authorities, 25%. This could change a little, Hussein said.

He said Al-Abraj wanted to raise the money possibly through an initial public offering, while Philippine institutions would also contribute to the project.

Kuwaiti partners include International Leasing & Investment and Al-Mal Investment Company, Al-Abraj said.

Agility said negotiations were continuing. "A big part of this project would come to Agility," Hussein said.

The biggest investment from the Middle East in the Philippines is a 40% stake held by state-owned Saudi Aramco in Petron Corporation, the largest oil refiner in the country. (Reuters)

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