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A
delegation of more than 200 Filipino
executives based in the United States of America
was tin Manila recently to scout around for
investment opportunities.
While in the Philippines the delegation dubbed
the Texas Trade Mission, observed the economic
barometer of the country, as well as gathered
technical resumes for future scheduling of
interviews.
Business Prospects
The visit was organized by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce
and Industry (PCCI) to coincide with the 33rd
Philippine Business Conference and Expo held
last month. The Filipino-Americans are all based
in Texas and are either top managers or
proprietors of their own companies
The Texas Trade Mission also explored investment prospects in
the CALABARZON (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal
and Quezon provinces) region. The group is made
up of the Philippine-American Chamber of
Commerce of North Texas, the Filipino American
Council of South Texas and the Tagalog
Association of Texas.
The PCCI facilitated a meeting between the Texas Trade
Mission, local business groups, and the
CALABARZON Regional Development Council to
explore investment prospects in the said provinces.
These areas are seen to be prime locations for
investments in call centers, |
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business
process outsourcing, retirement services
tourism, wellness services, and real estate.
IT, Outsourcing, in
Need of
Manpower
The investment prospects they set their sights on were in the
areas of information technology, business
process outsourcing, wireless telecom and real
estate, among others.
Other delegates were also looking for manpower in the
technical fields. They included Florencio
Guinhawa of Bechtel Corporation in need of
manpower outsourcing in the technical and
engineering fields; and Bernard Fragides, chief
executive officer of the ABMS Group in need of
local programmers, web designers, web
copywriters and web content providers.
Other delegation members included Yulinda Kho of Focus One
Company in search of skilled Filipino health
professionals for placement in the United States
and Canada; and Danilo Estrada of Symmetrix
Global Technology Corporation in need of
manpower outsourcing for information technology
and telecom services.
CALABARZON’s
Potential
The Texas delegation was headed by Consul General Mary Jo Bernardo
Ara |
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US
Builds Bridge of Progress and Unity. US
Ambassador Kristie A. Kenney, USAID
Mission Director Jon Lindborg (4th from
right), Undersecretary Virgilio
Leyretana (5th from right), chairman of
the Mindanao Economic Development
Council (MEDCO), Basilan Gov. Jum Akbar
(3rd from right) and Lantawan Municipal
Mayor Tahira Ismael (to the right of Amb.
Kenney), cut the ceremonial ribbon to
officially inaugurate and turn-over the
Matarling Bridge Project in Lantawan,
Basilan. Constructed by the US
government, the bridge provides a vital
new safer bridge for passenger and cargo
vehicles travelling on the Basilan
Circumferential Road. The two-lane, 60
meter long, high-capacity bridge will be
capable of handling increased traffic
and facilitating the movement of
agricultural products from production
areas to market centers. The bridge is
among the 860 infrastructure projects
the US government has built throughout
the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao
(ARMM) and other conflict-afflicted
areas in Mindanao |
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The Golf Cars
of Champions
By Katrina N. Cabanos
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AVID golfers may never get the swing
of the world’s best players but they can
now get the latest top-of-the-line
models of Club Cars popular among them.
Pacsports Philippines unveiled at the
Manila Polo club the sporty, hardy and
deluxe vehicles that are dubbed as the
BMWs of the golf courses because of
their unsurpassed performance and
unmatched reliability.
The three newest models are the DS Player, the Precedent
Professional and the Precedent Champion.
The DS player is the classic, battle
tested veteran of the green. With its
aluminum frame, it is a certified
fan-favorite. The Precedent Professional
is a flagship model that redefines the
rules of professional performance. It
guarantees every driver, whether
champions or weekend players, a great
golfing experience. The Precedent
Champion is arguably the best of the
best. With its superb construction, it
takes its riders to another plane of
distinction. The sophistication of its
10-inch rims and premium colors can make
any golfer feel like a champion,
regardless of the final score.
Club Car, Inc. has operated on the principle that a golfer
doesn’t only grow with |
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the
game, if conscientious enough, he grows
the game, and the game grows with him.
Supporting golf has always been an
integral part of the company and
according to Phil Tralies, president and
CEO of the US company, they want their
customers to view them not just as a
golf car company, but as a long term,
trusted partner.
For more information about these new models visit Pacsports at 2F
La Paz Centre, V.A. Rufino St. corner
Salcedo Village, Makati City or call
(02) 817-5872 and (02) 812-8907.
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Club
Car’s Precedent
Champion: Feel like
a champion
regardless of the
final score |
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gon of the Los
Angeles, California Philippine Consulate and CEO
ad Chairman Gus Mercado of Datalogix Texas, Inc.
They met with CALABARZON Regional Development
Council Chairman Richard Albert Osmond and
Philippine Economic Zone Authority Director
General Lilia de Lima.
The Texas delegates visited industrial |
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sites and
specific development projects. They sat
one-on-one with matched local business
individuals for discussions of an exploratory
nature after gaining a first-hand assessment of
existing infrastructures in the areas they
observed in the CALABARZON region. They all
agreed that the region, indeed, had much
business potential.
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Not Business
Friendly:
RP Gets Low Ranking
in World Bank Report
By Ana Kristine B.
Valenzuela
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Despite news of an economic boom,
the Philippines slipped further to 133
out of 178 economies in the recent
global competitiveness survey by the
World Bank (WB).
WB recently reported that the Philippines lags behind other
economies in terms of making itself
“business friendly”. Ranked number 133
out of 178 economies this year, the
Philippines slipped further from its
previous rank at 126. The WB poll pegged
the Philippines behind other Asian
countries like India at number 120 and
China at number 83.
Government officials assailed the country’s rank. “The
findings of World Bank were the findings
of last year. We had a lot of movement,
the country has a big, great deal of
moving up and change in the economy,”
Ambassador Cesar Bautista, co-chair of
National Competiveness Council under the
Department of Trade and Industry, said.
Businessman Arthur Tan, president and CEO of Integrated
Microelectronics Inc., an Ayala group
company affirmed the observations made
by World Bank but said they do not
really focus on the strength of the
country but rather on generic economic
conditions. “The criteria used by the
World Bank are assessing the ranking of
each economy places the Philippines at
that level. The soft issues such as ease
of dealing with the people and the
language proficiency in English, among
others, are the ones that are not
weighted heavily and where the
Philippines is strong in,” Tan
explained.
Tan said business is not that hard to commence in the
country, “depending on the type of
business being started and the size and
scope of the business will dictate how
easy or difficult it will be to start a
business in the country. Since our
businesses are export-oriented and we
are located in the Philippine Economic
Zone Authority (PEZA) industrial parks,
we have been interfacing with the Bureau
of Investments and the PEZA offices,
which have been very |
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transparent and easy to work with. The
other companies outside this scenario
may have a different experience.”
However, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Atty. Mike
Varela explained that though the country
lags behind other countries when it
comes to competitiveness, “we have a
very good working force where English is
good and they are efficient and
reliable,” stressing that human force is
a primary industry that the country
should focus on. Most probably why, many
multinational companies obtain labor
from the Philippines.
Another problem perhaps relies within
the government. According to Tan, the
Philippine government should work out
its strategies and guidelines with
investors. “The government is not
consistent in its policies with regard
to protecting its investors,” he said.
Very few investors who come to the Philippines to put up
businesses want to leave. PhilExport
president Sergio Ortiz-Luiz Jr. admitted
though that cutting down the red tape
would be helpful in attracting more
businesses.
Varela agreed, “The bureaucracy is crowded with several
procedures,” adding that the foreign
chambers have come into conclusion that
there are improvements and “we’re doing
something about it.”
The government said, on the other hand, that they are doing the
best they could. “The country and also
the investors themselves are bound by
certain investor laws protected by the
United Nations investment agencies. It
is a big legal thing, we just don’t
encourage them at the same time we also
protect them,” Bautista stated.
The Philippines scored poorly against other neighboring countries
including Bangladesh (107th), Vietnam (91th),
Malaysia (24th), Thailand (15th), Hong
Kong (4th), Taiwan (50th), Pakistan
(76th) and Sri Lanka (101th). |
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Rotary
Club Multinational Manila vice president
Gerrit Ten Veen (2nd left) and officers
and members of the Rotary Club of
Mandaue North take a break after
planting 3,000 mangroves in Cotcot
Ililoan, Cebu. The planting activity was
held last October. |
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