The Development Center for Finance successfully conducted its annual Project Finance Seminar on July 12, 19, and 26, 2025 via Zoom. It was attended by twenty-seven (27) participants from corporations in various sectors like banking, energy, property, logistics, and service.

The seminar was handled by three (3) experienced resource speakers: Dr. Arthur S. Cayanan, Assistant Professor Diogenes C. Dy, and Mr. Lawrence G. Velasco. Dr. Cayanan and Assistant Professor Dy are faculty members of the Cesar E.A. Virata School of Business who specialize in finance, teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Mr. Velasco is a former Director of the Project Development Services of the Public-Private Partnership Center of the Philippines with extensive experience in project finance having handled several project finance deals.

The first day of the seminar was all about leveling the finance knowledge of the participants. Dr. Cayanan led the morning session on capital budgeting, guiding participants through practical tools and techniques using hands-on exercises. Assistant Professor Dy handled the afternoon session. He discussed cost of capital and capital structure and demonstrating how cost of capital is computed.

Mr. Velasco handled the second and third day where participants delved into Project Finance. On second day, he formally introduced the participants to the common features of project finance, the different players in a project finance deal, and risk identification, allocation, and management.

On the last day of the seminar, Mr. Velasco guided participants through the process of conducting a financial evaluation of a project finance deal. He also discussed the various sources of financing available for such transactions. The seminar concluded with a practical case study, giving the participants the chance to apply the concepts they learned throughout the sessions.

Here are some feedback from seminar participants:

“I really appreciated Sir Art’s session, even as a non-finance professional. The lecturer was able to discuss the topics clearly and comprehensively today. Thank you po for giving personal experiences as examples to make sense of the theories.”

“I appreciated the preparedness of Sir Don and the comprehensiveness with which his session was presented. I am likewise grateful for the sharing of relevant resources. Demos were helpful in providing firsthand experience in making the estimates on cost of capital, even though the concepts are new to me. Real life references + theories is a good combination. Thank you.”

“Great session by Sir Lawrence! Very useful in terms of proper methods on risk analysis. I appreciate the case studies which provided me a glimpse of real life project finance deals. Highly relevant and informative + very competent speaker!”