Is the Philippines Ready for REITs?

The Philippines, having a strong real-estate industry with an increase in expenditures of private real estate developers in terms of construction and developments of residential and commercial high-rise buildings, plus the
influx of remittances by Overseas Filipino Workers, a booming tourism, and a growing number of offshore businesses, sees the current times as a good opportunity in having a bill on Real Estate Investment Trusts
(REITs) in the country.

Authored by Sen. Edgardo Angara, a bill on Philippine REITs has already been deliberated upon in the Senate and House of Representatives since January of 2009. The said bill has already been implemented and
benefited countries like Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and also around Asia such as Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand.

As such , the REITASIAPACIFIC – Philippines 2009 Conference on September 30, 2009 at the Heritage Hotel Manila, and organized by The Pinnacle Group International, will discuss the future of REITs in the Philippines – how will it affect the equity market of the country, possible risks involve, the valuation of offshore and domestic IPOs, and identifying potential problems on the taxation, among related matters.

Delivering the key note speech is REITs author himself, Sen. Angara. Private and publicly listed real estate developers, legislators, regulators, and investment analysts will also be present to tackle further relevant issues on REITs.

The conference is supported by The Philippine Stock Exchange Inc., Asia Pacific Real Estate Association, and Money Market Association of the Philippines.

To know more about this event, please contact: Eric Khoo, AV P, head of sales project head (+65 6846-2703, [fax] +65 6747-6131, eric.khoo@tpgi.org); Ed Gallinero, conference head (+65 6846- 2711, [fax] +65 6747-6131, ed.galliner@tpgi.org; Jen Mansilla, conference executive (+65 6846-2709, [fax] +65 6747-6131), jen.mansilla@tpgi.org.

For marketing and media opportunities, please contact: Angel Rellama, senior marketing executive (+65 6846-2713, [fax] +65 6747-6131, angel.rellama@tpgi.org).