Italian companies see investment potential in PH
THE Philippines has a lot of potential when it comes to trade and investments, an organization of Italian companies said during the closing ceremony of a business mission here in the country.
According to Paolo Zegna, Confederation of Italian Industries (Confindustria) vice president, during the three-day Italian Business Mission to the Philippines, the association had discovered a lot of investments potential in the country.
Zegna said that as the second fastest growing market in Asia, the Philippines is now attracting a lot of investments, adding that with the current condition of the country, it can be one of the priority areas of Confindustria in Asia.
“We want to bring in more companies and tell them that there is more potential here, but this is just the first step and you will be hearing news from us soon,” he said.
The Confindustria official added that it is just recently that Italian companies became aware of the potential of the Philippines, adding that most of the companies that they have brought were involved in the areas of renewable energy and infrastructure.
“We are particularly focused on renewable energy sector in the Philippines, but hopefully in the future business mission, we also want to focus on tourism and agricultural industries,” he said.
Zegna also thanked all the organizations that helped them in the success of the business mission, saying that “we have shown the companies that we have brought here that there are professional people that they could rely on in finding the right partnership.”
With a total of 147,288 member companies, Confindustria is Italy’s biggest association of manufacturing and services companies.
It has partnered with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to conduct the three-day business mission, to strengthen the relationship between the two countries, especially in the investment and trade enhancement opportunities.
Confindustria had sent a 21-member delegation to meet with the trade associations such as the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Italian Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, and the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines.
Meanwhile, Italian Ambassador to the Philippines Luca Fornari in a written statement said that trade relation between the Philippines and Italy had remained below their potential because of the geographical distance and to the little knowledge of the local market by Italian companies.
“Recently though, also due to the continuous information flow provided by the Italian embassy in Manila, the Italian business community has started watching with increasing interest to the Philippines market and to the strong performances of its economy despite the global crisis,” he noted.
Fornari added that the Italian business mission, which is the first in 65 years of diplomatic relations, is the most concrete signal of such an interest and hopefully open the way for a boost in bilateral trade and investments.