Philippines wooing Mexican investors

The Duterte government is inviting Mexican investors and companies to consider the Philippines in their future projects.

The invitation was extended by representatives of the Philippine Embassy in Mexico City during a trade and investment seminar roadshow held at the Mexican capital and hosted by the ASEAN Committee in Mexico City in cooperation with the Mexican Business Council for Foreign Trade (COMCE).

The ACMC includes the five resident ASEAN ambassadors in Mexico.

The Philippine embassy representatives highlighted Manila’s growing need for transportation infrastructure and its young, Internet-savvy population as points to consider for entrepreneurs and investors.

They also cited the continued strong growth of the Philippine economy as well as the current administration’s “Build, Build, Build” initiative.

The embassy officials noted that trade between the Philippines and Mexico has grown immensely in the last few years, reaching over $1 billion in value in 2017, up from approximately $400 million in 2014.

They said some of the largest Mexican investments outside the American region are found in the Philippines, represented most notably by CocaCola FEMSA and Cemex.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reported that the ASEAN committee spoke directly with COMCE executives, Mexican government officials, and private sector representatives, during which they presented the economic growth of the ASEAN region as a whole, and the investment and trade opportunities of each ASEAN country represented at the event.