Duterte controversies cost PHL 5,000 jobs — European chamber
THE opportunity loss for the Philippines as a result of the controversy generated by the new government amounts to foregone investment from two European companies that would have created 5,000 jobs, a European business chamber official said on Wednesday.
Florian Gottein, executive director of the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP), told reporters yesterday that the frozen investment decisions were caused “basically by a series of statements” from the Philippine president, which created uncertainty and prompted the companies to put plans on hold or look elsewhere. He estimated the opportunity loss at “roughly 4,000 to 5,000 jobs.”
“Business can live with risk, you can calculate risk but uncertainty is something which is difficult to plan for,” he said, noting that the uncertainty was primarily political in nature.
He made the remarks on the sidelines of a news conference at the Makati Shangri- La hotel to launch the ASEAN-EU Business Summit, which is happening next month in Manila.
“[One company was] thinking about doubling its investment in the country but headquarters in Europe was putting it on hold and there was another company that also want to double its investment in the country but they decided to expand their operations in Vietnam rather than here,” Mr. Gottein said.
He declined to name the two European companies but said one made its move around October and other one in late fourth quarter last year.
Asked if other companies expressed similar plans, he said: “So far, we’re not aware.”
“There are alternatives in the region, everybody is aware of that,” he said.
He said what the European chamber does in the Philippines is to try to work closely with the economic team of the administration, including the secretaries of trade and industry, and socioeconomic planning, as well as “interaction and dialogue” with legislators.
“We really try to bring across our concerns, discussing together how we can align our interests,” he said, adding that the chamber was also working with 64 local government units.
Mr. Gottein also said that the chamber’s job includes a lot of “explanatory work” in Europe on the killings that accompanied the administration’s so- called “war on drugs” especially as the number has reportedly reached more than 7,000.
“As harsh as it sounds, the Philippines [ is] on European headlines now almost on a weekly basis,” he said.
“More and more companies are asking us what’s happening here, and then we explain to them that there are a lot of opportunities here in the country. You just have to follow some steps, and you have to team up with the right partner,” he said.
Separately, Franz Jessen, the European Union ( EU) ambassador to the Philippines, said a mission from Europe that came over last month will be releasing by the end of the year its findings on whether the country’s is meeting the conditions set under the Generalized System of Preferences plus (GSP+).
GSP+, a preferential tariff scheme that allows the Philippines to export more than 6,200 products to the bloc’s member countries tariff- free, hinges on the country ratifying and implementing 27 international conventions, including those on human and labor rights, environmental protection and good governance.
“The main concern is the adherence to the international commitments under the conventions,” Mr. Jessen said.
“The ratification that we expect to come on the Paris agreement is not directly related to GSP+ but it is clearly a positive element,” he added.
He said a draft report might be coming out in the “not so distant future but the whole process is a bi-annual monitoring ... the conclusion should be reached by the end of this year.”
In January last year, the previous monitoring team noted that the Philippines “is showing a very constructive engagement during the GSP+ mission end of [2015] with open and frank discussions on human and labour rights notably.”
It noted that on human rights “while more remains to be done, since 2010 the Philippines has strengthened the country’s human rights legal framework and that the number of extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances has substantially declined. The launching of a national monitoring mechanism for extrajudicial killings is commended as an important step forward.”
“On labor rights, important progress has been made by the current administration to improve awareness and implementation of labor and employment policies, and to ensure compliance with the eight fundamental ILO [International Labor Organization] conventions,” it said.
“This is particularly the case at the level of national authorities, but challenges continue to arise in the regions and sub- regions, especially in areas with high levels of unemployment, such as fisheries, mining and extractive industries sectors,” it added.
The ASEAN- EU Business Summit is the first big business event after Philippines’ appointment to the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in September last year.
It coincides with the 60th anniversary of the EU, the 50th anniversary of the ASEAN and the 40th year of the ASEAN-EU relations.