Aquino brings home $2.35-B in investment pledges

PRESIDENT BENIGNO S.C. Aquino III has returned to Malacañang, bringing to a close his lengthy 12-day overseas trip that yielded over two billion dollars in investment pledges and the support of allies in the country’s bid to resolve a territorial dispute with China.

In a speech he delivered upon his arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport late Thursday, Mr. Aquino said he brought home $2.35 billion in investment pledges that would create at least 33,850 jobs.

The deals were from 22 companies that believed in the Philippines’ economic prospects, he said. 

“They’ve all expressed their confidence in our growing economy as a result of our reforms, and they’re hopeful this growth momentum will continue,” Mr. Aquino said in his speech.

The investors’ names were not made public; although last week Mr. Aquino’s spokespeople had said that in Europe, the President met with executives of oil giant Royal Dutch Shell PLC, banking giant HSBC Holdings PLC, Spanish construction firm Globalvia and banking conglomerate Bankia, in a series of meetings that also counted bankers, infrastructure builders, energy and construction companies, manufacturers and information technology firms. 

There, he also met with European leaders -- Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and King Felipe VI in Spain; King Philippe of Belgium and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso in Brussels; and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin. Mr. Aquino won the European leaders’ support for Manila’s peaceful approach to ending its territorial row with China over the West Philippine Sea.

In the US, Mr. Aquino held a roundtable discussion with chief executives and senior officials of the US Chamber of Commerce, the US-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Business Council and the US-Philippines society in New York. 

Although he did not mention the name of the companies -- out of concern the latter would violate non-disclosure rules -- the President hinted that one company worth “several billion dollars,” with investment in one location and employing 600,000 workers, is planning to set up a similar “production facility” in the country.

Mr. Aquino also said his administration has invited German carmaker Volkswagen AG to build its global manufacturing hub in the country. 

COCA-COLA CO. AND FRENCH RAIL COMPANIES
American bottler Coca-Cola Co., he said, has also infused $1 billion in investment ahead of a 2015 schedule.

That fresh capital from the US beverage maker, as well as the deal between the Ayala Corp-Metro Pacific Investments Corp. consortium and two foreign rail companies for extending the Light Rail Transit System Line 1 (LRT-1), was on top of the $2.35-billion investments that Mr. Aquino announced, Malacañang said.

“The one on Coke is just an affirmation of their previous commitment that before 2015, they would invest $1 billion in the Philippines. In NY [New York], their CEO affirmed and confirmed that they already invested that amount in the country,” Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma, Jr. said in a phone interview.

“[As regards] the railway project, the President was just asked to witness the signing of the deal… that’s not included in the $2.35 billion total investment,” he added.

PESO GLOBALIZATION?
In his speech, Mr. Aquino recounted an anecdote about a talk with a banker at a foreign lender who, he said, broached the idea of making the Philippine peso a global currency just like the US dollar. 

“Baka raw po dapat ay i-globalize natin ang piso… Nabigla po tayo sa mungkahing ito; kahit kailan po ay hindi dumapo sa isip natin ang ganitong hakbang… pero hindi po maikakaila ang sentimyentong dala ng kanyang mungkahi. Ang dating Sick Man of Asia, ngayon, bukal na ng kumpiyansa sa ekonomiya. (He thought the peso should be globalized… The proposal caught me off guard, but clearly it reflected the improving sentiment about the Philippines, the former Sick Man of Asia),” Mr. Aquino said.

Mr. Aquino’s Europe-US visit cost the government P31.9 million, said Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa, Jr.

The scant details about the trip left at least one political analyst skeptical about the results.

“The trip earned pledges of investment and support for the Philippine position on the South China Sea issue. However, these are a given and nothing new,” Ramon C. Casiple, executive director of the Institute for Political and Electoral Reform, said in a mobile phone message reply.

“A good trip but I suspect there’s a lot more discussions done,” he said, referring to “investment policies, incentives, quid pro quo, investment regime.”

source: Businessworld