US investors’ interest in PH seen to be waning

American companies appear to be shying away from making too much investments in the Philippine manufacturing industry, as the world’s largest economy makes a renewed push to bring more jobs back on US soil, according to the Department of Trade and Industry.

Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo admitted that, based on his observations during their roadshow in the United States last month, the interest level of US companies was not as strong as that seen in European firms, as far as the manufacturing sector is concerned.

“What’s happening in the US now is that their government is bringing back more jobs there or at least to the immediate neighboring countries like Mexico. That’s their focus now. Before, their focus was China, but given the rising cost of labor in China, it seemed more effective for companies [to maintain manufacturing facilities in the United States],” Domingo said.

But the DTI chief clarified that this was only true for manufacturing.

In terms of services, however, the Philippines continues to generate huge interest and significant leads from US companies, he said.

“The interest is more on services. The IT business process management remains strong, along with the creative services. We are pursuing leads there,” Domingo said.

In a separate text message, Trade Undersecretary Ponciano C. Manalo Jr. meanwhile said that Trade officials “got very good leads” from their US roadshow, but declined to elaborate.

“[We had] lots of solid leads, especially from California, whose economy seems to be bouncing back. I am very encouraged as California’s economy … is the 8th largest in the world if we consider the state a country. Areas of interest of course is ICT and creative services,” Manalo said.

The Philippines made a big push for creative services during its roadshow in the US as it targets to capture at least 10 percent, or roughly $24 billion, of the $243 billion global animation and gaming industry.

The Philippine mission covered New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles, where Philippine trade officials were able to meet some of the biggest players in gaming, animation, and software and software development.

The move to tap potential investments from this industry is part of the Philippines’ overall strategy to penetrate the three biggest global players—the United States, Japan and Korea, Manalo earlier said.