Spain’s leading firms eye investments in Phl

MADRID – Spain’s leading companies have expressed a desire to invest in the Philippines and participate in various Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects of the Aquino administration, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said Monday.

Aquino on Sunday met with business leaders from various companies as part of an effort to enhance trade and investment partnerships with Spain.

“The President briefed them on the country’s strong economic growth record that has been built on a platform of good governance that assures a level playing field and favorable investment returns,” Coloma said.

Aquino, joined by his official delegation, held talks with the executives of the engineering company Grupo Actividades de Construccion y Servicios (ACS), during which the Spanish group “expressed interest in participating in renewable energy (solar Spain’s leading… From B-7 and wind) projects in the country,” Coloma said.

Another company, Abengoa, which is engaged in innovative sustainable technology solutions in the energy and environment  sectors, expressed interest to bid in the Bulacan Bulk Water Supply Project, according to Coloma.

The President also held talks with officials of Calidad Pascual, a family-owned dairy company manufacturing and marketing more than 200 dairy products, fruit juices and desserts.

Coloma said Calidad Pascual was planning to establish a manufacturing facility in the country by 2016 once it reached the target sales of three million kilograms of pasteurized yogurt in the Philippine by end-2015.

Coloma noted the planned manufacturing facility would bring in an initial $8 million in investments.

He said that in 2013, sales of Calidad Pascual in the Philippines reached one million kilograms with a total value of $3.7 million.

Ineco, another Spanish firm engaged in infrastructure projects such as aviation, railways, roads, urban transport and ports, has expressed interest to bid in the Integrated Transport System Project-South Terminal and the Laguna Lakeshore Expressway-Dike Project under the PPP program, Coloma said.

Aquino also held separate meetings with the executives of Globalvia, Acciona and Indra Sistemas.

In the meeting, Indra Sistemas, a consulting and technology firm, told the President that it was planning to strengthen its software solutions factory to become the main production center for the ASEAN region, as well as increase the number of its employees to more than 2,000 in the next four years.