Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III on Friday said the Philippines and Singapore could maximize each other’s strengths to further boost the growth of start-up companies in the region.
Dominguez on Friday said Singapore has positioned itself as a center for innovation, research and development, but the Philippines can complement this strength with its intellectual capital of its highly talented, tech-savvy, and young work force.
“This is an opportunity for Singapore to create an ecosystem for its leading start-ups to establish their presence in our country. Singapore could also be instrumental in helping our own start-up companies to flourish,” Dominguez said in his keynote speech at the virtual Philippines-Singapore Business Conference.
Dominguez also urged the Singaporean business community to “take a much closer look” at the investment opportunities in the Philippines that have been enhanced by the country’s strong fundamentals, fiscal stamina, pro-business environment, and effective governance.
Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) President Benedicto V. Yujuico, for his part, said that his group is ready to lend a hand to Singaporean companies interested in joint ventures with local counterparts in various sectors.
These include aquaculture, financial technology and microfinance, renewable energy, medical and health care, and science park land development.
“If there are any Singaporean companies that are interested in these six specific business areas, the PCCI has counterpart businessmen who have the capability and willingness to go into joint venture in the above areas, please get in touch with me through the PCCI innovation center and I will put you in touch with the credible and capable business counterparts,” he said during the same virtual forum.
“On the other hand, if you do not need any local partner, I will also do the same service for you. We in PCCI will help you navigate our government system so that you can set up your business here in the shortest possible time,” he added.
Manufacturing key–Lopez
Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said that the manufacturing sector is a key investment area, given that it, along with the services industry, has been growing in the past decade. “The Philippine manufacturing industry remains the most important sector for long-term productive employment, value-added generation, and innovation,” he said.
Other areas for collaboration cited by the Trade department are infrastructure, services, public-private partnership and start-ups.
Lopez said that Singaporean firms may find it advantageous to invest in the Philippines given that the country has 41 million highly skilled work force with very low attrition rate.
In addition, the DTI chief noted that the Philippines offers access to diverse foreign markets given its free-trade agreements with other countries and regions.
“What’s more, despite the past year’s pandemic, the Philippines has shown a clear trajectory towards recovery as evidenced by the recent turn out on our economic and investment performance,” Lopez said. “But more than this, the Philippines has highly-capable, innovative, committed, and cost-competitive talent to support manufacturing, [research and development], and services sectors to help you grow your business.”
Secretary Dominguez added: “We are each other’s best allies in recovery. We create products for each other’s consumers. A surge in demand later this year should translate into an expansion of our manufacturing activities and more robust investment flows,” he added.
Despite the pandemic, Dominguez said the “mood is now more hopeful,” adding that the Philippines is now more focused on “opportunities in the horizon.”
While the Philippines is recovering from the pandemic, Dominguez said he expects the government to easily fulfill its funding requirements for this year on the back of a healthy liquidity situation and available policy tools to sustain a low-interest rate environment.
The country’s economic recovery program, he said, will be supported by the Philippines’s high credit ratings, unprecedented volumes of international reserves, strong currency, and enhanced revenue collection efforts.
Dominguez also expressed confidence that the Philippines will be able to bounce back from the pandemic because of the country’s “Build, Build, Build” program; the accelerated rollout of the national ID system, electronic invoicing, and digitization of frontline services; and stimulus measures to ensure the active participation of the private sector in the country’s economic recovery program.
“We believe that a strong private sector is the key to our recovery strategy. Along with the national vaccination program, we continue advancing the policy reforms required to ignite business activity and restore consumer confidence,” Dominguez said.
Last year, Singapore was the Philippines’s fourth top source of investments with approved pledges reaching P9.99 billion or $201.37 million.
Among the Singaporean firms or entities with major Singaporean equity in the country are Philippines Fiber Optic Cable Network, Dyson Electronics, Vires Energy Corp., GMR Megawide and Pilipinas Newton Energy Corp.
Image credits: AP
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