MANILA (Bloomberg): Chinese companies are still interested to invest in the Philippines despite the nations’ dispute in the South China Sea, a top Manila trade official has announced.
Some of the biggest Chinese firms in renewable energy and electric vehicles have expressed "very strong interest” to expand in the Philippines, Trade Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo said in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Hong Kong on Friday. He declined to identify them.
"The discussions now are about putting up manufacturing facilities in the Philippines...and also using the Philippines as a hub for the Southeast Asia region,” said Rodolfo, who also heads the Board of Investments. He visited Xiamen and Beijing before arriving in Hong Kong to meet with investors.
The investment talks underline the Philippines’ efforts to insulate economic ties with China, its top trading partner, from geopolitical tensions that have escalated between the two countries over competing claims in the South China Sea.
"The Philippines, we’re rich in green metals. There’s no choice actually for Chinese companies, Korean companies, but to talk to Filipino companies and the government for green metals, green minerals and further processing for the supply chain,” Rodolfo said.
He expects to announce progress on potential investments in the next 12 months, particularly on high-pressure acid leaching factories, which he said require an investment of $2 billion each. "We are hoping that we can have three more in addition to the two that we have that are being run by the Japanese,” he said.
The Philippines - the world’s second-biggest mined nickel producer - has been pushing its miners to invest in processing facilities to ride the EV boom. It’s hoping to catch up with top nickel supplier Indonesia which aims to be a global hub for the EV supply chain and is already home to many Chinese-backed projects to make battery-grade nickel.
The trade official said businesses with China continue to thrive despite the maritime dispute. "The tensions are serious,” Rodolfo said. "But when it comes to business, this is something that we can really discuss. Discussions are ongoing because the complementation is just very fundamental.”
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