More US Business Firms Plan to Expand in the Philippines
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) stated that two United States (US) companies had expressed their interest in expanding in the Philippines.
In a statement, DTI noted that its officials led by DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez, Presidential Adviser on Flagship Programs and Projects Vivencio Dizon, and FedEx Vice President Ralph Carter met in Washington, D.C. to talk about the expansion plans of the logistics firm in the country.
Carter revealed that the company is targeting to expand in Clark, Pampanga soon, expanding its current capacity by five times. The goal of the expansion plan is to make the facility a transshipment point for parcels.
DTI noted, “All arriving packages are sorted and reloaded back to designated planes flying to various destinations and will not pass through the Customs area.”
In 2020, FedEx announced its return to the Philippines with its US$30-million gateway facility in Central Luzon.
Carter mentioned that the company sought to have transparent and flexible transshipment measures as it calls for the Board of Investments’ (BOI) assistance to have an agreement with the Bureau of Customs (BOC), while coordinating with BOC for the Customs Memorandum Order (CMO) on transshipment rules drafting.
According to DTI, the CMO on transshipment rules is an “important prerequisite to finalizing FedEx’s investment plan.”
Meanwhile, Lopez also talked about the investment plan of ENDECGROUP, Inc. and Black and Veatch (B&V), through its subsidiary Diode Ventures, LLC (USA), for an integrated data center and renewable energy facility in the Philippines.
Lopez cited in a Viber message that the companies are still finalizing their investment amount for the data center and renewable energy facility.
The partnership between ENDEC and Black & Veatch through Diode Ventures focuses on investing initially in two hyperscaler data centers and solar energy projects.
Lopez cited that based on the estimate by BOI, a 150 to 180-megawatt hyperscaler combined with a renewable energy power source would typically require over USD1.5 billion. The government’s economic team is in the US to build up economic ties and attract more US investments in the Philippines.
