Spanish businessmen keen on energy, PPP

Manila Times.net

By Ben Arnold O. De Vera, Reporter

SPANISH businessmen have committed to invest in the Philippines’ energy, food manufacturing, and infrastructure sectors, according to the Board of Investments (BOI).

Trade Undersecretary and BOI Managing Head Cristino Panlilio told reporters that investors from Spain are looking at possible participation in the government’s public-private partnership (PPP) initiative.

A group of about 20 construction firms will arrive in the Philippines by the middle of this year to look at the PPP projects to be rolled out, Panlilio said.

Twenty-nine Spanish companies are now in Manila to meet with potential local partners and explore opportunities.

Alfredo Bonet Baiget, secretary of state for external trade of Spain’s Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade, said businessmen for a long time were confined to the domestic market as well as the European Union and Latin American markets.

Recently, the Spanish government encouraged companies to internationalize “so that the external sector can stimulate our economy and become a stable source of growth,” Bonet Baiget said.

“In this internationalization process, we would like the Philippines to be a key partner in Southeast Asia,” he said.

“The Philippines is a country with which we believe our companies can collaborate and exploit business ventures of mutual interest,” he added.

Panlilio said several Spanish firms already committed to invest in the Philippines, including power producers such as Unión Fenosa, Gamesa and Endesa.

Also, Grupo Leche Pascual, one of Spain’s largest dairy product manufacturers, will infuse about $10 million for a canned yogurt production facility in the Philippines, Panlilio said.

The BOI official said Grupo Leche Pascual is in talks with San Miguel Corp. for the domestic distribution of its canned yogurt. The Spanish company also plans to export to other Southeast Asian countries through its Philippine facility, he said.