Beyond The Islands

Duterte’s India Trip Scores Big: $1.25-B Worth of Investment Pledges

India might be a rival of the Philippines when it comes to the BPO industry, but our friends from the South Asia region are more than willing to invest in our country.

In fact, President Rodrigo Duterte will be taking home at least $1.25 billion worth of investment pledges according to Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez.

Different Indian companies from industries like renewable energy, infrastructure, information technology-business processing management (IT-BPM), and healthcare have contributed to the investment pledges that will help generate 10,000 jobs in the country.

“We had a series of meetings with big and major conglomerates in India especially those with special interest in operating in the Philippines and those with intention either to expand or to enter the Philippines in terms of investments,” Lopez said.

The President is in New Delhi for the 2018 India-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Commemorative Summit. But even before he arrived, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) already initiated these meetings according to Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque.

New Investors

India’s leading solar power generation and manufacturing company, Adani Green Energy, has expressed plans to expand its operations in the Philippines.

“There is investment commitment and the jobs to be generated. So they are now looking for sites for the solar and the wind-based power generation,” Lopez said.

There are also other groups who have expressed interest in doing business in the Philippines. Interglobe Air Transport expressed its interest in the Philippines promoting its tourism in the sub-continent.

Interglobe Technologies intends to expand its operation and build its presence in the country through digital delivery centers. It’s interested in setting up travel schools with management, customer services, digital contact solutions, among others as core programs.

An Indian investor of The Farm at San Benito, which is a resort in Batangas, intends to build resorts in both Palawan and Davao.

The HGS Hinduja Global Solutions in the Philippines also wants to increase the “number of seats by about 2,000 seats and that of course 2,000 jobs” according to Lopez. The DTI secretary also mentioned that there are other groups who want to do business in the Philippines but have not yet entered into an LOI.

MOUs signed

India and the Philippines also signed two Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) in the fields of investment and information technology according to Secretary Lopez.

“And part of the meetings, we entered into–or they have submitted in total about seven Letters of Intent (LOI) and two MOUs. So we had basically about nine agreements with them on how we can both expand and strengthen our trade and investment relationship,” he said.

One of the MOUs signed is between the Philippines’ Board of Investment and India’s Invest India represented by  Lopez and India’s External Affairs Secretary Preeti Saran respectively. The MOU aims to facilitate direct investments and cooperation between the two agencies and provide practical investment information to enterprises, assist visiting investors, and promote investments and other initiatives.

The IT Business Processing Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) and the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) signed the other MOU, which is about the development and growth of the global IT-BPM industry in the Philippines. The MOU also includes mutual assistance and cooperation.

“I will tell you that it is emerging to be a substantial commitment on the investment side as well as job generation side. Much of it will be coming from the IT-BPM, renewable energy and other infrastructure projects including pharmaceuticals,” Lopez said.

Both President Duterte and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi were present in the signing of the trade MOU at the Hyderabad House. It happened just hours after Duterte landed in New Delhi.

via Manila Bulletin / Argyll Cyrus Geducos

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