SENTIMENT TO IMPROVE

While foreign investors will take a while before sinking in capital in the run-up to the elections, interest will definitely be boosted by improved economic prospects worldwide, American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Executive Director Robert M. Sears said.

“I think the general consensus is they’re looking at doing a little better [in 2010] than [in 2009], in line with the global recovery,” Mr. Sears said in a phone interview.

“In terms of direct investors, they might wait until after the elections to see how it goes. We’ve been seeing a few interested visitors come through though — more than usual,” he said.

Such improvements on the global level will also mean better times ahead for exporters and industries banking on overseas workers’ remittances, business groups said.

“We think merchandise export sales will grow 10% in 2010,” Philippine Exporters Confederation President Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis, Jr. reiterated in a telephone interview.

In contrast, export sales in January-November last year had fallen 24.6% to $35 billion, according to latest official data.

Manufacturers of electronic parts — the country’s top export — see industry sales growing by double-digits this year after likely ending 2009 with a 20% drop, said Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines, Inc. Chairman Arthur J. Young, Jr.

The business process outsourcing (BPO) sector — a major service exporter — meanwhile expects a faster 26% growth in industry sales after a projected 20-23% improvement in 2009, Business Processing Association of the Philippines President Oscar R. Sañez said.

Aside from the uptrend expected worldwide, business groups also cited increased economic activity stemming from post-storm rehabilitation.

Luzon had been battered by storms in late2009, with floods damaging homes, roads, factories and offices.