MANILA, Philippines - Spanish stakeholders and officials are keen on participating in the airport projects the Philippine government is auctioning to private players through its public-private partnership (PPP) scheme.

This emerged during a session in the opening of the 6th Tribuna Espana-Filipinas, a high level dialogue attended by Spanish officials and stakeholders as well as Filipino delegates from the national government and other sectors.

In a statement on Tuesday, January 29, Chaco Molina, spokesperson of the Tribuna Espana-Filipinas, said the Spanish officials were impressed over improvements in the business climate in the Philippines, and noted the stress-free business environment that foreign investors consider as key to making their decision.

"What surfaced from this conversation with regard to partnerships in the development of the airport industry is that they (Spanish) have seen a major change in the last 7 years on how to deal with the government, which is more transparent and business friendly,” Chaco Molina, spokesperson of the Tribuna Espana-Filipinas said.

They also considered the historical ties between the Philippines and Spain, and how airport facilities can address the geographical distance between the two. The different panels pushed for partnerships in airport-dependent tourism industry, which is being pushed by the dialogue.

The session on “Investing on Runways to Progress” was attended by Transportation Undersecretary Jose Lotilla, Ayala Corp director Eric Francia, GETINZA CEO Pedro Gomez, and INECO Regional Director Alberto Fernandez. - Rappler.com