12 big Korean firms eye PH projects

Officials of some of South Korea’s leading companies are visiting the Philippines to look for potential business ventures, noting that investors see the economic potential “above the noise.”

In a forum on Tuesday, officials announced that 12 Korean companies would be conducting in an investment and market research mission this week, aiming to scale up Korean infrastructure investments in the country and establish networks with Filipino investors.

The companies specialize in engineering, construction, power generation and water treatment facilities, according to Kim Young-sun, secretary general of the Asean-Korea Centre.

“The Korean delegation will participate in one-on-one business meetings with the Filipino counterparts to seek opportunities for collaboration. I hope there will be valuable exchanges and tangible outcomes for all of you,” he said.

The following companies are in the Korean delegation: Seohyun Energy, CNNET Co. Ltd., Aju Corp., Ye Won Co. Ltd., GS E&C, Pyunghwa Engineering Consultants Ltd., K-Water, Daelim Engineering and Construction, Soosung Engineering Co. Ltd., CJ Human Tech Co. Ltd., Kepco Corp. and Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction.

The Philippines was the third top destination of South Korean foreign direct investments in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in 2014, according to the Asean Investment Report 2016, before falling to sixth place in 2015.

South Korean Ambassador to Manila Han Dong-man said in the forum that he wanted to bring in more investors to the country. On top of that, he wanted total trade volume with the Philippines to reach $20 billion in the next few years after reaching $15 billion in 2017.
The figure cannot be crosschecked yet with the Philippine Statistics Authority, which is yet to release a full year trade report.

In 2016, Korea was the Philippines’ 7th largest trading partner, with total trade reaching $7.75 billion. This, however, resulted in a trade deficit of $3.39 billion as the Philippines imported more than it exported, data showed.

“I’ll do my best to bring more Korean tourists and Korean companies to the Philippines to invest. Hopefully, I’ll try to increase our total trade volume up to $20 billion in the years to come,” he said.

The business mission comes amid efforts of the Duterte administration to heavily improve on infrastructure development, while changing the country’s tax rules.

In the press briefing that followed the forum, Emmanuel Ang, commercial counselor of the Philippine Trade and Investment Center in the Korean Embassy here, said that Korean companies were generally upbeat despite the changes in the tax system.

“Above all of the [political] noise, they see the big market in the Philippines. [They see] the big economic growth that we are having,” he said.