MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / Jan. 1, 2013) – The Department of Trade and Industry said unparalleled record of inbound business missions to the Philippines manifests the strong confidence of foreign investors in the country’s business environment.
“Consistent with positive reviews of international rating agencies on the Philippines, this influx of business missions is a strong affirmation of the Aquino administration’s economic reforms that have resonated prominently to foreign investors worldwide,” Trade Undersecretary Cristino Panlilio said in a statement.
He said the Board of Investments recorded a total of 487 inbound business corporation visits from January to October 2012. These missions are composed of 147 individual company visits and 34 multi-company delegation missions, where each mission is composed of at least 5 corporations’ executives.
Panlilio also noted that the increase in inbound business missions can be attributed to the revival of interest of markets such as United Kingdom, France and Canada, and the growing interest coming from non-traditional markets like Russia, Europe, particularly, Turkey, Oman, Iran, Qatar, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, and Africa.
“Traditional markets such as Japan, US, Taiwan, and Korea remained a major source of foreign investor visits,” Panlilio said.
These inbound mission’s sectors of interest are information technology–business process outsourcing, power including green energy, infrastructure or public-private partnership projects, tourism, agribusiness and aquaculture, and manufacturing of aerospace parts, electronics, garments and textiles, steel, machineries, automotive, shipbuilding, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals.
The BOI also recorded a total of 13 outbound missions and four Presidential state visits in Taiwan, Singapore, Korea, Malaysia, Japan, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Australia, and Cambodia. The areas of interests are maintenance, repair and overhaul services, electricity generation and transmission, hydro-power power, tourism, energy, e-vehicle, agro-business, shipbuilding, business process outsourcing, duty free shops, and investments in economic zones and in Mindanao.
“In 2013, we expect this trend to continue with numerous investor queries and requests for assistance in the conduct of our due diligence activities. We are also anticipating a considerable increase in realized investment projects with value propositions from the industry road maps developed this year,” Panlilio said.
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