From right: First Balfour president Anthony Fernandez on the panel with Aboitiz InfraCapital president Cosette Canilao, DMCI president Jorge Consunji, BDO Capital and Investment president Eduardo Francisco and Acciona business development officer Macy Tayco (PHOTO BY RON LIU)First Balfour president and chief operating officer Anthony Fernandez was among the industry leaders who took part in the Spanish Chamber of Commerce (La Camara) and Acciona’s 2nd CEO Conversations held at the Makati Diamond Residences in October.

He was joined by Aboitiz InfraCapital president and CEO Cosette Canilao, DMCI president and CEO Jorge Consunji and BDO Capital and Investment president Eduardo Francisco.
The roundtable session, which gathered the country’s top minds in the infrastructure space, began with an exchange of insights on a bill recently filed at the Senate which seeks to create a 30-year planning horizon for infrastructure. The panelists agreed that having such will provide future governments a template which will allow them to plan better given that larger infrastructure projects normally go through different administrations. From a banking perspective, it was highlighted during the session that funding is available and ready to be deployed for viable projects.
Prior to the roundtable discussion, KPMG head of deal advisory Mike Guarin discussed the Philippine infrastructure situation which he said presents a lot of excellent opportunities for infrastructure players. Citing the country’s infrastructure ranking of 96th out of the 141 countries in the 2019 Global Competitiveness Index, he shared that the government has to work together with the private sector to move forward and keep up with its neighbors in the ASEAN region.
The CEO conversations is the third and last in the Infrastructure Series of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce for 2022.
(Story/Photos by:Dolly Pasia-Ramos)