The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) has established a credit line of up to US$50mn with Philippines’ BDO Unibank (BDO) as part of its global action for reconciling economic growth and environmental preservation (GREEN) scheme.

Japanese private financial institutions will be financing half of the credit line, with JBIC providing a partial guarantee for the co-financed portion, on a project by project basis.

The JBIC financing is the first green facility to the Philippines, and it is earmarked for environment-related projects contributing to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG), which the country is set to cut by 70% by 2030.

A representative of JBIC Manila office tells GTR that the bank is looking specifically for projects that can be financed using US dollars. Under the GREEN operation, these can be renewable energy projects such as wind and solar farms, geothermal plants, but also energy efficiency improvement projects in buildings and construction.

JBIC has an existing relationship with BDO. In 2013, the two organisations signed a memorandum of understanding to support Japanese mid-tier and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) expanding into the Philippines through Japanese regional financial institutions. According to a JBIC statement, this credit line is intended to further strengthen this partnership, with a focus on the environmental sector.