• German IT-BPM companies plan expansion in Phl

German information technology-business process management (IT-BPM) firms have set plans to expand in the Philippines, with projects expected to generate at least 1,000 new jobs over the medium term.

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, who was in Germany a couple of weeks ago for a trade and investment mission, said he met several IT-BPM companies there and several indicated plans to locate and expand in the Philippines.

Lopez said Germany’s Merck Group sounded off plans to expand its operations in the country over the next three to four years to employ 800 people by 2020.

Merck opened its IT-BPM operations in the Philippines in July last year with an initial 125 employees, offering procurement, accounting, HR and IT services for its North America and Asia Pacific markets.

Fresenius Medical Care, which operates 21 dialysis clinics all over the country, meanwhile, seeks to open its IT-BPM operations in the Philippines in the short term, according to Lopez.

He said Fresenius intends to increase its number of employees to 130 in three years.

“In terms of its medical care operations, they see the need to further expand their operations in the country to 25 clinics by end 2017 and up to 37 by 2020,” Lopez said.

Boehringer Ingelheim, the third largest multinational in the country, is also looking to make the Philippines as a global center for the group’s shared services, the trade chief said.

Boehringer Ingelheim has been operating in the Philippines for 50 years and will start Manila operations in October 2017 with 200 employees, initially servicing the Australia and New Zealand markets.

“The choice for Manila as the Asia Pacific location was mainly because of the country’s good university system and access to talented workforce,” Lopez said.