Mexican Ambassador to the Philippines H.E. Julio Camarena on Wednesday said his country has been exploring the business portfolio in Davao City and is looking forward at additional areas for investment.
The Mexican ambassador said based on consultations with the city government, the Mindanao Development Authority and the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc., they are looking at possible investments in ecosystem, hydro-technology, tourism, manufacturing, agro-industry, and telecommunications and infrastructure.
The Mexican ambassador was on a three-day visit to Davao City from April 10 to 12, 2017 to explore possible areas for investment.
Guesting during Wednesday’s Habi at Kape media forum at Abreeza Ayala Mall Davao City, Camarena traced the bilateral relationship of Philippines and Mexico during the Galleon Trade which prompted not only the exchange of agricultural products between the two countries but the influence of Mexico on Philippine culture in terms of language, culture, and tradition.
“The Galleon Trade is the first example of free trade between the two countries and what the Mexico and the Philippines has been doing today is in the same tradition of keeping the Galleon Trade alive,” said Camarena.
“What we are doing here in Davao is trying to look at the portfolio and looking at additional areas for further investment,” said Camarena who added many of the Mexican companies in the Philippines have already set up their subsidiaries in Davao City such as FEMSA, a multinational beverage company headquartered in Monterrey, Mexico that serves as the largest franchise bottler of Coca-Cola products in the world by volume, and Apo Cement Plant owned by Cemex, a Mexican multinational building materials company.
Also guesting at the forum, Honorary Consul of Mexico to the Davao City Dr. Maria Lourdes Garcia-Monteverde said the consul was amazed by the active involvement of MinDa which presented a list of projects where Mexican investors could invest on.
“MinDa presented us projects on infrastructure and renewable energy and I think the development of the country really relies on that,” noted the ambassador.
On May, the Mexican embassy will spearhead the conduct of Filipino-Mexican Business Council Meeting which aims to bring potential investors in the country.
In 2013 to 2014, Mexico was the number one foreign direct investor of the Philippines with a foreign direct investment (FDI) of $6.8 billion. In the same duration, Philippines had an FDI of $600 million to Mexico.
One of the biggest investments of Mexico in the country in 2013 was the arrival of FEMSA has brought in $2.6 billion worth of investments after acquiring 51% of Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, Inc. (CCBPI) from The Coca-Cola Company. In the same duration Cemex has brought in $3.6 billion worth of investments.
According to Camarena, at present, Mexico remains to be one of the biggest foreign investors in the country alongside United States, Japan, United Kingdom, among others.
