More Philippines franchise brands eyed for global market

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Franchise Association (PFA) aims to double the number of Philippine franchise brands that have expanded globally in the next two years, banking on the momentum of the country hosting twin international franchise events next year.

“I think we have about 25 global Filipino franchise brands now. We want to push that to 50 in the next few years – and this would be the momentum to do that,” PFA president Sam Christopher Lim told reporters on the sidelines of the Franchise Asia Philippines Expo on Sunday.

Lim said  the country is set to host the meetings of the World Franchise Council (WFC) and the Asia Pacific Franchise Confederation (APFC) meeting in October next year.

He explained that the WFC is a council of 40 countries composed of all the heads of franchise associations.

“The Philippines bid to host it and we won the bid for hosting that in October [2023], where we have 40 heads of associations coming over the Philippines to meet and look at how to really continue improving the Philippine franchise industry,”Lim said.

With the hosting of the meeting, the PFA will double the size of its annual Franchise Asia Expo next year.

“It’s a perfect time to have more Filipino brands go international. So we’re working with the DTI (Department of Trade and Industry), the DOT (Department of Tourism (DOT) and government to help support our MSMEs (micro,small and medium enterprises) because our MSMEs really need support to not just grow nationally but also internationally,”Lim said.

He said this was in line with the PFA’s goal  for the Philippines to have 50 Filipino franchise brands to go international.

“The last time we hosted (WFC) it was about 12 years ago. Since then, because of the attention that the Philippines got, we had more brands that came in. We had more support in building the industry. So it strengthens our industry. It still helps grow our industry, but I think it’s the exposure of our brands to the international arena,”Lim said.

While acknowledging that the Philippine government, particularly the DTI, is supportive of the country’s franchise industry, Lim pointed out that funding support from the government would really help the local industry expand internationally.

“When we go international, the government supports us with connections,” Lim said.

He explained that brands in ASEAN countries such as Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia are able to go international because the government supports them.

PFA recently held Franchise Asia Philippines Expo, which was participated by over 500 brands.

Lim said nearly half of this year’s participants are first time exhibitors, emphasizing the creation of more franchise brands in the country.

“People now know that franchising is a less risky way to expand. The pandemic really highlighted the need for diversification of your risks. Because if you have 100 stores, during the pandemic you have to manage that plus the employees,”Lim explained.

“But for franchising, they realized that you have fellow business owners managing their own stores.  You have to manage your network, you have to help each other but franchising is a less risky way. You’re risking less of your time, less of your money,” Lim said.

In 2021, the country’s franchise industry had a 7.8 percent contribution to the country’s gross domestic product and created two million direct and indirect jobs.