TOKYO – More Japanese investors are set to invest in the Philippines while companies already in operations are firming up expansion programs, Philippine embassy officials said.
The Mindanao peace accord opens up the South for agribusiness and mining investments even as Japanese firms venture into creative content and game development, outsourcing and infrastructure projects, they pointed out.
Hans Siriban, second secretary and consul of the Philippine embassy in Japan, said Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines are on the radar map of Japanese businessmen.
“We are the closest ASEAN economy to Japan and probably is the cheapest,” said Amb. Manuel Lopez.
He said Japanese companies are interested in setting up business process outsourcing operations in the Philippines due to tax perks for export-oriented businesses, Lopez said.
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“We have major conglomerates looking already at investments in the infrastructure and transportation base in the country,” said Dita Angara-Mathay, commercial counselor of the Philippine Embassy in Japan.
“In investment seminars, it’s always overcapacity. There’s a lot of interest to look at the Philippines, which has a young population and a growing market,” Siriban said.
The Philippines could become Japan’s gateway to Southeast Asia, which boasts of a 600-million market. Japan is also taking a second look at the manufacturing sector in the Philippines.
For the financial service sector, one of the biggest credit card companies in Japan is firming up a partnership with China Banking Corp. of the Sy family.
A large potential investment area is Mindanao particularly given the peace deal.
“With the signing of the peace accord, Mindanao is one of the targets of Japanese businesses in mining and agriculture,” Lopez said.
Japanese companies are also looking at producing high-value commercial crops such as ornamental plants and cut flowers, Lopez said. The Philippines is currently the biggest pineapple and banana exporter in Japan.
Last week, the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front signed a comprehensive agreement on the Bangsamoro as the first step in the creation of a new region that would replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
For other parts of the country, investment opportunities abound in terms of creative content and game development, Mathay said.
Specifically, a group of between 50-60 employees of Japanese gaming firms Sega, Bandai and Konami will visit Manila in May to partner with local counterparts through the Creative Content Game Networking Mission.
Mathay said Filipino creative content developers can aid in the visual arts, programming and language components of computer games, allowing Japanese firms to venture into Western markets.
Existing businesses are also planning to expand operations.
Mitsubishi Motors Corp. earlier said it bought Ford’s shuttered plant in Laguna as it focuses its production in the province.
Mitsubishi is planning to expand its production by one to two more sedan or van models in the next five years, said commercial attaché Froilan Pamintuan.
Toyota, Isuzu and Honda are waiting for the release of the Philippine automotive industry roadmap prior to firming up expansion plans, Mathay added.
Mathay said the improvement of trade will be aided by improved air travel.
To date, Philippine Airlines (PAL) is the largest airline operating between the Philippines and Japan with 77 weekly frequencies between seven points – more than the combined flights of all other carriers in the market. Japan is the largest international operation of PAL.
The objective now for the airline is to improve the service with Sapporo, famous for its ice festival, being looked into.
Japan was the country’s third biggest source market for tourists in 2013 after South Korea and the United States.
A total of 433,705 Japanese visitors came to the country, comprising 9.28 percent of international visitor arrivals for the year.
On Sunday, PAL added its twice daily Manila-Haneda flights to its existing Tokyo-Narita, Fukuoka, Nagoya and Osaka routes. It marked the company’s return to Haneda Airport in Tokyo, which was PAL’s chief gateway in Japan for 29 years until 1978.
“With the return of international service to Haneda, PAL is now back at Tokyo’s premier airport,” said Ismael Augusto Gozon, senior vice-president for airline operations of PAL.
Long list of Japan manufacturers eyeing to locate in PH — official
MANILA, Philippines – There is a long list of Japanese manufacturing companies looking to come to the Philippines, said Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Toshinao Urabe.
Urabe said that aside from the manufacturing companies that are already present in the Philippines, there is a long list of new companies that are looking to enter one of the best performing economies in the world.
“There are quite a few Japanese companies coming into the Philippines,” Urabe said at the Makati Business Club and the Japanese Chamber of Commerce joint membership meeting on Tuesday.
The most recent is Shimano, the Japanese bike manufacturer. The mountain bike brand will set up manufacturing facilities in the next year for export to the emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India and China, or the BRIC countries.
Nobuo Fujii, vice president and executive director of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Philippines, said Shimano will set up the factory at the First Philippine Industrial Park in Sto. Tomas, Batangas.
There are roughly 1,700 Japanese companies located in the Philippines and more looking to come. These include Cemedine Philippines Corp., which manufactures and sells adhesive, ceiling and related products; Bandai, the toy maker of Power Rangers and Gundam fame; Fujifilm Corp., which makes optical lenses for digital cameras, projectors and surveillance cameras, and; electronics components maker Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd.
Many of these companies are targeting Asia, Latin America and Europe for exports, according to the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Philippines (JCCIP), which has 500 member-companies.
Driving industry, real estate sectors in PH
The entry — and return — of Japanese manufacturing firms to the Philippines have been as cited as one of the legs of growth for the industry and real estate sectors in the Philippines in the 1st quarter.
Manufacturing grew 9.7% in January-to-March period, helping support the economy's overall 7.8% growth.
In a previous interview with Rappler, Julius Guevara, associate director for research and advisory at Colliers said they have received a number of inquiries from Japanese companies interested in putting up manufacturing facilities in industrial areas in and around Manila.
“In the past 6 to 12 months there has been an increased activity of Japanese moving manufacturing to the Philippines,” said Guevara.
“Japan continues to make an impact on various facets of life form history to economy to popular culture. In economic terms since 2009, Japan has been either the top or second largest source of approved foreign direct investments into the Philippines," said Ramon del Rosario Jr, chairman of Makati Business Club.
"Last year alone, Japan's improved investments were valued at P69 billion, next only to the Netherlands. In 2012 Japan stood as the Philippines no. 1 trading partner and as the no. 1 market for Philippines exports,” Del Rosario added.
