Many foreign firms seen expanding PH operations

Multinational firms operating in the Philippines are poised to expand their operations and increase investments, following the successful trade and investment mission of the Department of Trade and Industry over the past months.

Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo disclosed that in his trips to Europe and Asia, a large publicly listed London-based firm that has an existing office in the country has told him that it was “underrepresented,” has “underinvested” in the Philippines and was therefore positioning itself to increase investments and manpower here.

Another British BPO firm has also recently transferred the “logistics management for the deliveries of their products” here in the Philippines from the United Kingdom. The move, according to Domingo, proved to be a good decision as the BPO firm has so far exceeded performance targets.

A Singaporean firm is also looking to expand its operations by increasing its manpower in the country by 5,000 personnel, while an international real estate firm seeking investors for a project in the Philippines has gotten about 30 inquiries, well beyond the company’s expectations of about five to eight inquiries.

“The investor interest level in the Philippines is high—the highest in my career in DTI. Over the past weeks, we were in at least seven investment fora and roundtable discussions with high-level business executives. The strong attendance to these discussions is a very strong statement on the Philippines,” Domingo explained.