Swedish investors keen on setting up Philippine manufacturing businesses

MANILA - Swedish investors are eyeing manufacturing projects in the Philippines, the Board of Investments (BOI) said on Monday.

The BOI recently hosted a Swedish business delegation, which included representatives from Atlas Copco, Celemi, Clean Motion, Comex International, Electrolux, Ericsson, Handelsbanken, Ikano, SEK, Tetra Pak, Volvo and the Swedish Foreign Trade Association.

“What is encouraging for us is the heightened interest of foreign investors in the Philippines. There is a solid stream of business missions coming in and we believe this is a vote of confidence in our government’s capacity to effect significant long-term structural and policy reforms,” Trade Undersecretary and BOI Managing Head Adrian S. Cristobal Jr. said in a statement.

During a trade and investments briefing, Swedish investors were encouraged to explore opportunities in agri-business, information technology-business process outsourcing (IT-BPO), public-private partnership (PPP) projects, renewable energy and tourism. “Strategic investments in these high-potential growth sectors, especially in manufacturing, generate employment opportunities and stimulate more development in the rural areas,” Cristobal said.

Swedish investments in the country from 2006 to September last year totaled P168.4 million.

“I believe that there is great potential for an increased bilateral dialogue between the Philippines and Sweden, and strengthened business and industrial relationships,” Eva Walder, head of the Swedish delegation and director general for trade of Sweden’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was quoted by the BOI as saying.

Swedish businessmen were also enjoined to source coffee, consumer jewelry, fresh fruits, giftware, home furnishings, organic foods, and processed fruits and marine products from the Philippines.

Last year, Sweden was the Philippines’ 34th-biggest trading partner, 32nd-largest export market and 35th source of imports with $161.48-million worth of trade.

Among the Swedish-led companies operating here are ABB Philippines, AstraZeneca, Ericsson Philippines, Lux Manufacturing, Magnitron Technology Philippines, SCA Hygiene Products and Swedish Match Philippines.

source: interaksyon.com

BOI approves tax perks for P890-M broadband project

MANILA - Converge Information and Communications Technology Solutions Inc. will put up an P890-milion data communication network using fiber optic and wireless technologies, with broadband speed reaching up to 100 megabits per second, the Board of Investments said on Thursday.

In a statement, the BOI said it approved last week tax and other perks for CICTSI’s project, which will use Gigabit-capable Passive Optic Network or GPON, which the incentives-giving agency described as “a pioneer technology for installing, operating and maintaining nationwide wired and wireless broadband networks.”

At present, the Philippines’ telecommunications network can handle data volume transmitted at 250 gigabits per second, the BOI said.

“The rapid Internet growth and enormous bandwidth consumption it entails pose a challenge to telecommunications infrastructure. [CICTSI’s] project will help address telecommunication gap by ensuring faster Internet speed and ability to meet the growing volume of data traffic,” BOI said.

The project will undergo three phases, with the initial phase culminating in December for the coverage of the National Capital Region, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac, Clark Freeport Zone and Olongapo City.

The next two phases will be rolled out elsewhere in the country in three to five years, with the areas to be covered serving as switching nodes with a 10-Gbps capacity, the BOI said.

CICTSI will hire 278 workers for this project.

The company aims to attract 40,000 subscribers in the first five years of operations.

This project has qualified for fiscal incentives under the 2012 Investment Priorities Plan, in line with government moves to address the growing number of Internet subscribers in the country—estimated to reach more than 30 million by yearend and projected to grow by 23 percent yearly, data from the National Telecommunications Commission and global research company International Data Corporation show.

source: interaksyon.com