From South Korea: More tourists, investments

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu can expect more visitors and investments from South Korea this year.

This according to His Excellency Han Dong-Man, the new envoy of South Korea to the Philippines, during a courtesy visit to Governor Hilario Davide III.

The ambassador also assured continuous cooperation between South Korea and the Philippines.

Cebu is second home to many Koreans who are here to study or to do business. Thousands also visit the province every year as tourists.

Davide said the ambassador’s words are a welcome development, particularly the promise of more investors, as the same will boost Cebu’s economy further.

While the ambassador did not mention specific projects or partnerships, Cebu is being eyed as an investment hub for real estate – mostly on resort – commercial, and residential developments by South Korean capitalists.

Setback

Under Philippine law, however, foreign entities cannot own a majority share of any business operation.

This is an ‘unfavorable’ factor that contribute to foreign businessmen getting discouraged from investing in the country, said Vice Governor Agnes Magpale.

In an interview with The Philippine Star last month, Korean Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (KCCP) President Ho Ik Lee said that the Philippines still has some restriction and limitation on foreign investment in several areas compared to other ASEAN countries.

“As a businessman in the Philippines and as president of KCCP, I am sorry to say that the majority of Korean investments are going to Vietnam, not Philippines,” Lee said.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) and the Board of Investments (BOI) documented P873.15 million worth of approved investment pledges nationwide from South Korea.

This is 92.6 percent lower than the P11.82 billion in 2016.

Despite this data, Magpale said Cebu is a welcome place for investors especially South Koreans who are the island’s top visitors.

Tourism

In December 2017, South Koreans are the top foreign visitors in the Philippines based on records from the Bureau of Immigration. Last year alone, around 1.5 million South Koreans visited.

“In number, the Korean community is largest in Cebu and in the entire country,” Davide said.

Davide assured the ambassador that Koreans are safe in Cebu.

While more visitors from Korea are a welcome development, one concern raised by local tour operators is the presence of Korean travel operators who also serve as tourist guides here.

“So they’re competing with our local tourist guides. That’s one issue being addressed by our tourism commission,” Davide said.

The Provincial Tourism Code passed last year prioritizes the hiring of ‘accredited’ local tourist guides. A foreign guide can be hired only if no available local guide can cater to the needs of the guests, particularly in the aspect of communication or language.

This clause will take effect next year as operators are given a one-year transition period.

A monitoring system will also ensure that the services rendered by the guides are satisfactory.

“They shall cover factors that are crucial to the sustainability of the tourism resources in accordance with the provisions of this Code. Monitoring and evaluation indicators should include service quality and participation of local communities,” states Article C, Section 1 of the Code.

Aside from visitors from South Korea, other top visitors are from the United States, China, Japan, Australia, Taiwan, UK, Canada, Malaysia, and Singapore. (FREEMAN)