Aussie investments seen to rise rapidly

MANILA, Philippines – Australian investments in the Philippines are expected to increase significantly in the next few years specifically in the mining, outsourcing, clean energy and environment, and to some extent in education and the manufacturing sector, according to Australian trade officials.

In a briefing Friday (Dec. 3), Australia’s senior trade commissioner for the Philippines Ross Bray and Tim Harcourt, chief economist of the Australian Trade Commission, disclosed Australia’s favorable trade and investment outlook for the Philippines.

Harcourt, who travels the globe extensively to research on global economic trends, pointed out that many Australians are keenly looking at the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam as potential investment destinations.

Bray and Harcourt said that the plus factors for the Philippines include having “the best natural asset of well-educated Filipinos.”

Likewise, the Philippines has “good geological resources” and highly-skilled geologist and engineers.

Another advantage, the two cited, is the Philippines good environment laws and the 1995 Mining Act.

They also expressed admiration for the country’s good corporate ethics.

However, one area that they felt the private sector should help the government address is “for the private sector industries to work together on their own program. How can they tell the Administration what to do if they don’t have a program plan themselves?” Harcourt said.

Harcourt and Bray were very confident of an increase in the next couple of years in the mining sector, citing the biggest investment of Indophil and Xstrata in the $5.6-billion Tampakan project plus other investments by Red 5 and Oceana Gold.

While the bulk of the investments will be in the mining sector, Harcourt and Bray also cited other Australian interest in outsourcing, offshoring and Business Process Outsourcing; clean air and environmental projects and some manufacturing activities by mostly small to medium Australian companies.

Bray cited one manufacturing activity investment in Subic involving the manufacture of small marine crafts.

The education sector is also an investment opportunity, Bray noted as the Philippines looks at Australia as an alternative education destination to the United States.

However, increasingly because of the economic cost, some Australian educators are looking at tie-ups with Philippine universities.

Trade between the Philippines and Australia is already established but still has opportunity for growth, Bray said, with more small Australian firms hoping to sell their products to the Philippines.

Bilateral trade between Australia and the Philippines fell by more than a fifth in to A$1.554 million in 2009 from 2008 figures.

Bray was optimistic that with the renewed interest in the Philippines, trade between the two countries would increase. -Marianne V. Go (The Philippine Star)