The Philippines Department of Finance convened the first ASEAN Finance Ministers–World Bank Group Dialogue under the Philippines’ ASEAN Chairship, bringing together regional finance officials and World Bank Group President Ajay Banga. Participants identified priorities for deeper cooperation, including mobilizing private capital for infrastructure, accelerating artificial intelligence adoption and digital transformation, securing affordable and clean energy, advancing climate adaptation and creating jobs. Philippine Finance Secretary and ASEAN Finance Track Chair Frederick D. Go called on the World Bank Group to help turn bankable ideas into investable projects and connect policy reforms with private financing. He presented Philippine measures easing foreign ownership restrictions in telecommunications, airlines and renewable energy, as well as the Luzon Economic Corridor’s use of public investment to attract private financing, as approaches other ASEAN members could adapt. ASEAN representatives highlighted guarantees, technical assistance and capacity building as key forms of World Bank Group support, while Banga emphasized that private investment should complement public financing and that public resources should be deployed strategically to attract additional capital.

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