U.S. Government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation CEO to Visit Philippines

Manila, October 12, 2012 -- Daniel Yohannes, Chief Executive Officer of the U.S. Government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), will visit the Philippines from October 15-21, 2012 to personally see the positive results from projects funded by the U.S. Government’s $434 million Millenium Challenge Compact grant to the Philippines.

 During the visit, Mr. Yohannes will pay a courtesy call to President Benigno S. Aquino III who, together with U.S. Secretary of State and MCC Chair Hillary Rodham Clinton, witnessed the compact signing on September 23, 2010 in New York. He will meet with the MCA-P Board of Trustees led by Budget and Management Secretary Florencio B. Abad, and Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima, who signed the Compact on behalf of the Philippines government.  Mr. Yohannes will call on U.S. Ambassador Harry K. Thomas, Jr., and meet with key Embassy officials.  Ambassador Thomas will also host a reception for Mr. Yohannes to exchange views with government, business, and civil society leaders.

 During his visit, Mr. Yohannes will lead the inauguration of small infrastructure projects implemented under the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS) projects of the Department of Social Welfare and Development. KALAHI-CIDSS, a community-driven development project, is one of three projects in the Philippines funded by the U.S. Government under MCC.

 The MCC chief will also lead a groundbreaking in Borongan for the first signed road construction contract of the Secondary National Roads Development Project that will formally signal the start of civil works on the 222 km road rehabilitation project. He will also meet with project-affected parties in the municipality of Borongan.

Mr. Yohannes will also take the opportunity during his Philippine visit to hold a dialogue with the private sector and deliver a keynote address at a meeting of the Makati Business Club.

 Prior to his confirmation as MCC CEO, Mr. Yohannes was the President of M&R Investments, a firm specializing in financial services and the renewable energy sector. Before launching M&R Investments, Mr. Yohannes was a leader in the financial services industry, working in various roles throughout his career including as Vice Chairman and member of the Management Committee of U.S. Bank, President and CEO of Colorado National Bank, and as the Executive Vice President of Security Pacific Bank (now Bank of America).

Millennium Challenge Account – Philippines (MCA-P) is a Philippine entity responsible for managing the implementation of the $434-million grant (“Compact”) from the U.S. Government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).  The Compact is focused on reducing poverty through economic growth by funding projects in tax administration reform, community-driven development, and roads rehabilitation.  For more information about MCA-P, please visit http://www.mcap.ph.  For more information about MCC, please visit http://www.mcc.gov.