Multinational investment firm Morgan Stanley made a commitment Wednesday to invest in the Philippines to support the administration’s aggressive development agenda during a meeting with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Switzerland.

Marcos met with Gokul Laroia, chairman for Asia Pacific of Morgan Stanley, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.

Laroia informed Marcos that the top global investment bank would set up an office in Manila, promising to back the government’s development initiatives.

The Morgan Stanley official said President Marcos is on the right track in involving the private sector, especially in developing the country’s infrastructure.

And the sovereign wealth fund being pushed by the administration becomes interesting because a lot of the infrastructure investments will be carried out in the long term, Laroia said.

When issues on government policy are addressed, private sector participation automatically happens, particularly by raising capital, according to Laroia.

“Because you know there’s a lot to work with in the Philippines, as you said, the supply side dynamics need to improve,” Laroia said.

“We’re seeing some evidence of diversification of supply chains, the need to have the infrastructure benefit from that. So all of these can be a vicious cycle," the Morgan Stanley official pointed out.

Aside from private sector participation in infrastructure development, one of the areas that the government is looking into is the so-called environmental funding or climate change funding, President Marcos said during the meeting.

There are climate change funds such as the European Union (EU) green bond, as well as the United Nations (UN) financial instruments that the country can tap, Marcos said as he noted that one of the challenges is clarifying the methodology for actual fund disbursement.

In developing infrastructures, the President pointed out that the public sector has to have the basic capacities, both hard and soft, and it has to lay the groundwork before the private sector comes in to flesh out everything.

Assuring the President, the Morgan Stanley official said: “We’re excited to be a part of it, and we’re spending time there, we’re opening an office there, we’re trying to work with-- both the government but also the private sector. And we will be supporters and we will continue to be.”

Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment management and financial services company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City.

It is a global leader in investment banking and has been advising clients on transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, restructurings, initial public offerings (IPOs), convertibles, share repurchases, debt offerings, and derivatives, among other services. Presidential News Desk