Henry Schumacher (left), Executive Vice President of the European Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines said that he does not see foreign investors changing their attitude about investing in the Philippines because of the recent earthquake in Bohol and typhoon in the Visayas. Japan Chamber of Commerce President, Takashi Shigami, echoed the sentiments of Schumacher. INQUIRER.net/MATIKAS SANTOS
MANILA, Philippines – Foreign business investors in the Philippines do not see the recent earthquake and typhoon calamities in the country that devastated many cities in the Visayas region as affecting the attitudes of investors.
“We are terrified to see how [super typhoon] Yolanda (international name Haiyan) has devastated a large part of the Visayas and I think we will do everything in order to help in the reconstruction,” Henry Schumacher, Executive Vice President of the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) said Wednesday in a press conference.
“I don’t see a change in investor attitude because of the [magnitude 7.2] earthquake [in Bohol] and Yolanda. I think the business community is united in trying to help as much as we can,” he said.
Schumacher said that major investment areas in the Philippines such as Metro Manila including Cavite and Cebu have not been affected much from the calamities.
Yolanda wreaked havoc across the provinces in the Visayas region particularly Leyte and Samar provinces. Tacloban City in Leyte was destroyed including its airport.
Schumacher said that despite the destruction of many business establishments and residential areas in the region, new business opportunities would come especially in the reconstruction efforts.
Takashi Ishigami, president of the Japan Chamber of Commerce, echoed the same sentiments of Schumacher.
“I think most of the Japanese companies have the same attitude,” he said.
“I am living here in the Philippines and I propose to Japanese companies to [invest] in the Philippines,” Ishigami said.
The Japanese government has pledged to provide $83-million worth of aid for the relief efforts, according to the Foreign Aid Transparency Hub website. Air assets and personnel from the Japan Self-Defense Force were also in the country to support the Philippine military.
The European Union has committed $26.8 million worth of non-cash aid while the government of the United Kingdom has a separate commitment of $84.3 million worth of non-cash foreign aid.
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