Investing in the Philippines and in New Clark City was pitched by the Philippine Delegation to the Asia Pacific Forum Bayern (APF) held at the Stadthalle Furth in Nuremberg from 9-10 July 2019.

The Philippines was featured in the Asian Hotspots Panel with two panelists Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) Vice President for Investment Promotions Atty. Joanna Capones and Dr. Martin Henkelmann, Executive Director of the German-Philippines Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GPCCI).

Dr. Henkelmann gave a presentation on key macro-economic developments in the PH, citing sustained high growth rates, positive credit ratings, improvements in Ease of Doing Business mechanisms, an intensive infrastructure program, and one of the best Human Resources pool in the world as among major factors for investing in the Philippines.

BCDA VP Capones’ presentation focused on developments in New Clark City – the country’s most ambitious foray into Smart City construction. Highlighted in her presentation is the complete master-planning of New Clark City; the 60% green and 40% built space vision; a fully-planned Central Business District of 5.8 million sqm; superior infrastructure with 400 km of Grade A Road Network and a 300 km High speed highway connecting it to Metro Manila, Subic Sea Port, Bataan Export Processing Zone, and other key areas in Central Luzon; Land Rights of 99 years through lease or Joint Venture arrangements; Dual Fiber Optic Backbone of 200 km; Competitive Investment Incentives; and new developments in the Clark International Airport with the new Terminal 2 building set to open in June 2020, among others.

Joining BCDA VP Capones and Director Gerard Camina at APF 2019 were Philippine Ambassador to Germany Theresa Dizon-de Vega, Deputy Consul General Emil Fernandez of the newly re-opened Philippine Consulate General in Frankfurt, and Commercial Counsellor Althea Antonio.

The Delegation likewise had the opportunity to engage with members of the Chamber of Commerce of Nuremberg and other companies present at the APF which attracted over 400 participants. END

The Philippine Embassy in Berlin, in partnership with the Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC) and Unifier Ventures, hosted on 16 May 2019 the 2nd Philippine Startup Meetup in Berlin as a satellite event of the Asia Pacific Week (APW) 2019 organized by the Asia Pacific Forum Berlin and the Berlin Senate Department for Economics, Energy, and Public Enterprises from 13-19 May 2019.

More than 60 guests attended the meetup and listened to pitches by 8 startups, some of them based in the Philippines and others based in Europe but with a Philippine component in their operations.

The 8 startups included MedCheck, NxtLvl Agri, NxtLvl Water, FoPo, OneWatt, Mineski, Twyla, and Romi.

Mr. Elmar Broscheit of Macquarie Capital and Mr. Alexander Reinhardt of RIG Berlin GmbH, a startup accelerator focusing on F&B, served as the judges.

Philippine Ambassador-designate Theresa Dizon-De Vega, currently in Manila on overseas absentee voting duties remotely opened the event with a video message. She highlighted government efforts to increase ease of doing business in the country, and to bolster its competitiveness by strengthening both its physical and human resource infrastructure.

Dr. Rainer Seider, who heads the International Cooperation unit at the Berlin Senate in charge of APW, then gave his welcome remarks in which he noted the progress of cooperation between the Philippines and Berlin in the field of startups through the Startup Asia Berlin (SUAB) initiative.

DTI Undersecretary for Competitiveness and Innovation Rafaelita Aldaba, delivered the keynote message, where she cited the Philippines rapid economic growth and development, the accompanying challenges, and the need for innovation to address them.

Meanwhile, Mr. Miguel Encarnacion, Managing Director at Unifier Ventures, a Berlin-based early-stage startup investor under the corporate umbrella of Philippine Business Seaoil, talked about synergies and opportunities for collaboration between the European and Southeast Asian startup ecosystems.

Thereafter, the pitching session started, with each startup given four minutes to make their presentation, followed by one question each for the two judges. After the eight pitches, the Judges’ Prize was conferred on OneWatt, while the Audience Prize went to NxtLvl Water.

OneWatt, which was represented by Mr. Lorenzo Yabut, regional director for the Asia Pacific, helps diagnose problems with industrial machinery through non-invasive sensors and machine learning algorithms that “listen” to motors. The judges, in selecting the company, noted that it was the most unique among the eight presenters, with a solution they had not yet seen anywhere else.

NxtLvl Water, on the other hand, won the audience members over with their promise to help solve the problem of access to clean water faced by many Philippine communities. Represented by Mr. Derya Tanghe, they aim to provide affordable and high-quality water out of modularized stations kitted out with cutting edge desalination technology.

The Philippine Embassy in Berlin aims to be on the leading edge of collaboration between the Philippines and Europe in the startup space. It hosted the inaugural Philippine Startup Meetup in the German capital in June 2018. (END)

The Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) Undersecretary for Competitiveness and Innovation Dr. Rafaelita M. Aldaba gave audiences a glimpse of the Philippine innovation environment at the Asia Pacific Week (APW), which took place from 13 to 19 May 2019 in Berlin under the theme “Asia-Europe Dialogue on Innovation.”

Usec Aldaba led a delegation of Philippine startups and venture capitalists to the annual gathering organized by the Asia Pacific Forum Berlin and the Berlin Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises. The APW has become an established platform for players in the Asia Pacific and Europe to engage with each other on key areas such as Smart Cities, Industry 4.0, Digitalization, and Startups and Innovation.

At the APW opening on 13 May, Usec Aldaba spoke alongside Berlin Mayor and Senator for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises Ramona Pop; Siemens AG CEO Joe Kaeser, who likewise chairs the Asia Pacific Committee of German Business (APA); Dr. Eric Schweitzer, President of the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK); and SAP Senior Vice President and Head of Global Labs Network Clas Neumann. She was joined at the event by Philippine Ambassador-designate to Germany Ma. Theresa V. Dizon-De Vega and Commercial Counselor Althea Karen Antonio.

In her presentation, Usec Aldaba hammered home the point that the Philippines, with its sound macroeconomic foundation, consistent and unprecedented economic growth, efforts to implement Ease of Doing Business, rich talent pool, and Inclusive Innovation-led Industrial (i3) strategy, is ready to be a major innovation hub in the Asia Pacific region. She also announced that Manila will host, on 18 September 2018, an Innovation Conference with participants from government, industry, and academe, and invited the APW delegates to take part in the event.

On 16 May, the Undersecretary spoke at a panel discussion on the topic “Scaling Internationally: Do smart city startups have it harder?” as part of the StartUp Asia Berlin (SUAB) night, where she shared Philippine initiatives to address urban development and other challenges through innovation. SUAB facilitates collaboration between startups and other ecosystem players in Berlin and Asian startup hubs such as Manila, Singapore, Jakarta, Delhi, Bangalore, Beijing, Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

Aside from the two events, Usec Aldaba delivered the keynote at the 2^nd Philippine Startup Meetup hosted by the Philippine Embassy in Berlin in partnership with the Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC) in Berlin and Unifier Ventures, on 16 May. She also had meetings with Siemens Managing Board Member and CEO for Smart Infrastructure Mr Cedrik Neike and Senior Director for Government Affairs for Asia and Australia Mr Tobias Dennehy to discuss opportunities for Siemens to expand its footprint and offer more of its solutions in the Philippines in areas such as eMobility, Energy, and Smart Cities.

On 17 May, Usec Aldaba was joined by the delegation of Philippine startups on a study-visit of Berlin’s Adlershof Science City, where they were briefed on the measures taken by the Berlin government and its partners to lure top talent, schools, and businesses to locate in the world’s tenth-ranked technology park.  (END)