Chinese investors show interest in RP's infrastructure, mining sectors

MANILA, Philippines - China has expressed interest in investing in the Philippines especially in the areas of infrastructure and mining but said the restrictive economic policies here have a negative effect on the decision making process of businessmen.

Speaking before members of the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) and the Makati Business Club (MBC), Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Liu Jianchao said that Chinese firms would like to see a more liberal economic stand. 

“Strong companies would really like to see policies become more liberal,” Liu said who was responding to the question of limited land ownership of foreigners in the Philippines.

He explained that the liberalization of policies will do good to improve the confidence of foreign countries in the environment. He said that so many companies have expressed interest in investing in the country but they also have negative concerns like the return on investments.

In spite of this, during his speech Liu said that the Chinese government is in close contact with the current administration to explore economic partnerships with the country. The ambassador has even cited five areas wherein the Chinese are interested in.

The first is in agriculture. Liu said that China is willing to import more agricultural products from the Philippines especially fruits like bananas, pineapples and mangoes. Liu said China can bring agri technology to the Philippines in order to enable us to be self-sufficient in food in the future. Likewise, he said that they are ready to talk with the Department of Agriculture to see how they can help develop farming technologies.

The second part is infrastructure. He said he can bring expertise in railways to the Philippines. The Chinese are involved in the construction of South Rail and North Rail. 

The third is renewable energy (RE). He said China is foremost in wind power.

The fourth is mining. Liu promised that aside from mining, they are willing to bring in mineral processing to the country. Unfortunately, Liu disclosed that many Chinese mining firms have been duped by their Filipino counterparts.