MANILA -- Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III has cited Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) for boosting confidence in the Philippines’ economic recovery by pioneering several bond offerings in the country’s capital markets amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
On the 30th anniversary of ALI’s listing in the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), Dominguez also underscored the firm’s efforts to help the economy bounce back from the pandemic through its investments that create jobs, as well as its critical role in the government’s COVID-19 vaccination program through the use of its malls and other properties as mass vaccination centers.
“As we chart the path for recovery, we steadily see Ayala Land’s growth contributing to the overall progress of the Philippine economy,” Dominguez said in his pre-recorded message at the event held this morning, July 23.
“I look forward to the next three decades of Ayala Land as it continues to contribute to a better, greener, and more vibrant future for the Philippines,” Dominguez added.
He said that with the government’s recovery measures complemented by a faster rollout of the national vaccination program, the Duterte administration is “very optimistic that we can rapidly contain the spread of COVID-19 and bounce back strongly from this global health and economic crisis.”
Dominguez earlier made it clear that the government has enough resources to procure vaccines to inoculate more than 70 million or 100 percent of the country’s adult population, as well as vaccinate teenagers and acquire booster shots for them if necessary.
Tight global supply is the only factor holding back the government’s vaccination efforts, he said at a separate forum last week.
The Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) recently retained its GDP growth target for the country of 6 to 7 percent this year as it stressed the need to intensify the implementation of the prevent, detect, isolate, treat and recover (PDITR) strategy, along with the full vaccination of residents in high-risk areas, to help build consumer and business confidence, improve the health system capacity and prevent community transmissions of the more virulent COVID-19 Delta variant.
In his message at the virtual event, Dominguez noted that ALI has achieved several milestones before reaching the 30th anniversary of its public listing, among them its landmark P13.6-billion Real Estate Investment Trust offering, which, as the first REIT listing in the country, opened the road for more REITs to come to the market and provide attractive and dependable investment opportunities for the average Filipino.
ALI has also pioneered the listing in the capital market of a corporate bond that was offered and issued using electronic means last April via the electronic Securities Issue Portal (e-SIP).
“Thirty years after it was first listed in the market, Ayala Land has moved from strength to strength. This underscores the potential synergy between a strong vision, excellent corporate management and market capitalization,” Dominguez said.
He said ALI has significantly contributed to the Philippines’ growth through its investments in property development that created many jobs and attracted numerous business opportunities nationwide, and supported the government’s climate change initiatives by building green spaces throughout the country.
“Through the years, Ayala Land has established itself as the company of reference in providing both housing and commercial spaces. It has won and kept the public’s confidence in the quality of its products,” Dominguez said.
He also noted that since its listing in 1991, ALI has “become a truly public company,” with its effective ownership at 44.4 percent and the rest held by the investing public. (DOF)
