OPPORTUNITIES IN THE PHILIPPINES’ ELECTRONICS SECTOR AND INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTED IN FORUM ORGANIZED BY GERMAN ASIA-PACIFIC BUSINESS ASSOCIATION
(L-R) The Ambassadors of Indonesia, the Philippines , Sri Lanka and Vietnam respond to questions on business opportunities in the region from Mr. Daniel Marek, panel moderator. Photo credits: OAV
Ambassador Irene Susan Natividad highlighted the Philippines’ advantages as an investment destination for German companies in the electronics sector during the “Ambassadors Dialogue” event organized by the German Asia-Pacific Business Association (OAV) on 20 November 2023 at the Chamber of Commerce Rheinhessen-Pfalz offices in Mainz.
“The Philippines is a world-class center for outsourced semiconductor assembly and testing with a great pool of talent including integrated circuit (IC) design engineers. We have about 500 companies in this sector, employing 3 million workers,” Ambassador Natividad said.
She also highlighted that infrastructure development continues to be a centerpiece project of the Marcos administration with 197 infrastructure flagship projects (IFPs) worth Eur 141.4 billion (PHP 8.6 trillion) lined up for implementation. She invited German companies to participate in these IFPs through public-private partnerships and offer their expertise in engineering and construction and in the conduct of feasibility studies.
Other panelists in the forum were Indonesian Ambassador Arif Havas Oegroseno, Sri Lankan Ambassador 
Lanka Varuni Muthukumarana, and Vietnamese Ambassador Vu Quang Minh.
Dr. Martin Thummel, Director for East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific of the German Federal Foreign Office addressed the participants virtually. He said that Germany considers the Asia-Pacific region as “crucial to Germany’s prosperity and security,” and reiterated Germany’s commitment to intensify its engagements in the Indo-Pacific.
State Secretary Petra Dick-Walther of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Transport, Agriculture and Viticulture of Rhineland-Palatinate, in her remarks, welcomed the ambassadors from the region which she said will continue to be the center and engine of global economic growth. She expressed pleasure over the growing cooperation between her state and countries in the region. Rheinland Pfalz is home to many medium-sized enterprises and 50% of the region’s production is exported.
Close to 100 participants interested in exploring business locations and increasing partnerships in the Asia-Pacific were in the event.
