The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) organized a courtesy call for 20 Thai executives with President Rodrigo Roa Duterte to encourage Thai investments in the Philippines.
These executives are from the agro-industry, banking, cement, chemical, food, energy, real estate and tourism sectors.
Some of them represent private sector organizations, namely the Thailand-Philippines Business Council, Federation of Thai Industries, Thai Chamber of Commerce, Board of Trade Thailand, Thai Bankers Association, and Philippine Alumni Association of Thailand.
“I invite you to ride on the momentum of Philippine growth story, and invest especially in the new industrial destinations of Metro Manila, Pampanga, (Clark), Cebu, Bohol, and Davao,” said President Duterte during the courtesy call at the sidelines of the 34th ASEAN Summit.
“It is a testament of the confidence of the international business community to the abled leadership of our President.”
DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez said that “some of them have existing investments in the Philippines, and are looking to further expand their investments, while the others are interested to invest. Such is a testament of the confidence of the international business community to the abled leadership of our President.”
Among the companies present are SCG Packaging PLC and Charoen Pokphand (CP) Foods Philippines Corporation. SCG is a paper packaging manufacturer undertaking a $100M expansion plan in the Philippines. Meanwhile, CP Foods Philippines is currently on track in its five-year (2017-2022) investment plan for swine and poultry farms in Visayas and Mindanao. CP Foods is part of Thailand’s CP Group, which was encouraged by Lopez to increase its investments in real estate.
Other companies present at the courtesy call were:
· Bangkok Bank Public Co., Ltd.
· Dusit Thani Public Co., Ltd.
· Eastern Water Resources Development and Management Plc
· Erawan Group
· Green Spot Co., Ltd
· New Waitek Co., Ltd.
· Nguan Soon Group
· PTT Oil and Retail Business Public Co., Ltd.
· Siam Cement Public Co., Ltd.
· Srithai Superware Public Co., Ltd.
· Thai Beverage Public Co., Ltd.
· ThaiSri Insurance Public Co., Ltd.
Thailand ranked as the Philippines’ 6th major trading partner.
In 2018, Thailand ranked as the Philippines’ 6th major trading partner, 6th export market, and 5th import supplier, with total bilateral trade amounting to $10.76B.