Italian investors have eye on PH

AN executive of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines Inc. said businesses in Italy are keenly interested in investing in the Philippines.

Speaking in SMNI’s weekly public affairs program “Business and Politics” hosted by The Manila Times Chairman and CEO Dante “Klink” Ang 2nd, the group’s executive director, Lorens Ziller, said Italian firms are looking at the Southeast Asian region as a potential market.

Lorens Ziller, executive director of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines. PHOTO BY J. GERARD SEGUIA 

“The region had caught the eye of major economies, especially Europe in general, as well as us, Italy. Now, we know typically the investment hubs in general within this region are Hong Kong and Singapore. Back then, the companies who have been to these countries only saw the Philippines as just an added or an add-on market,” he said.

“Currently, the businesses that were initially not going to the region are now interested in doing so. The reason for this is because of the macroeconomic data that this region is showing where we are probably going to have the highest economic growth worldwide. To add to that, we have a young population, which will make this growth long-term and sustainable,” Ziller said.

He said the organization has Filipino member companies that have Italian products or use Italian machinery.

“We can explore avenues there. We also have French companies, European companies, who are also members with us because we do things right in certain sectors. Lately, however, we are helping Filipino companies who want to do exports with us because we are specialized in helping companies find export markets, which is now being sought after because of the Philippines participating in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership free trade agreement,” Ziller said.

He noted, however, that there are challenges in encouraging more Italian companies to invest in the Philippines because they prefer to bring their business to other countries that offer better benefits.

“When it comes to building a factory or a production company, we really face fierce competition from Thailand and Vietnam. For example, in a regional meeting with my colleagues there and other chambers in the region, they told me in Thailand, they give you free land if you want to set up there, while in Vietnam, they also give you 7 to 10 years of tax holidays,” Ziller said.

Philippine companies “really need to step up in order to be more competitive and to be on equal footing with [regional rivals]. On paper, the Philippines is a good country to invest in, but there are several factors that are stopping investors from coming here,” he said.

Ziller cited red tape and the high price of electricity as among the issues that have to be resolved.