Work alongside Chinese firms

“If you can’t beat them, join them,” businesses are told.

Instead of looking at Chinese industries as competitor, might as well work alongside them and ride on with the prospects of the world’s next economic powerhouse.

In a business forum hosted by the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), Federico Macaranas told business managers and decision makers in Cebu to capitalize immensely on Chinese openness to the Philippines, as the effect of both governments’ warm relations.

“The Philippines could tap into China’s wealth of expertise and cooperate with them in the areas of agriculture, shipping and in creating new technology products,” he suggested.

One way of taking advantage of the Chinese’s fondness and trust to the Philippines is to “speak their language”—literally.

Learning Mandarin now becomes a compulsory, especially for businesses, which are not owned by Chinese.

Macaranas, who is also the executive director of the AIM Policy Center, a leading think tank in the Philippines and South East Asia, said learning even basic Mandarin increases ones marketability and value.

Being able to speak the language would help Filipinos deal with the Chinese better, especially in the area of business.

With its growing 1.42 billion population, China has become the point of interest among local businesses for market expansion.

Likewise, Chinese investors are looking at the Philippines, including Cebu as viable market for their products and good expansion hub for their businesses.

Earlier, Export Development Council (EDC) Visayas representative Alan Suarez admitted that while China offers huge opportunity for growth, Filipino exporters are still having difficulties in penetrating China.

"Most Filipino exporters are very careful in dealing with the Chinese. They have different way of doing business. We, on the other are used to deal with western traders," Suarez said.

Currently, China is developing its own supply chain complementaries across the world.

This economic powerhouse, according to Macaranas, is now the largest trade partner of more than twice as many countries as America.

From $800 billion investments abroad in 2014, the AIM professor said China is forecasted to grow its businesses overseas to $2 trillion in 2020 evident with the growing Chinese communities around the world.