More American companies the Philippine delegation met in Washington expressed plans to invest billions of dollars in the country, generating thousands of jobs for Filipinos, according to Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual.
These investments are in nuclear energy, renewable energy, biotechnology and business process outsourcing.
Pascual said leading nuclear energy firm, through its chief executive officer Francesco Venneri, disclosed their company is seriously considering the Philippines for its first nuclear energy facility in Southeast Asia adding that it would help address the blackouts that have affected several parts of the country such as what happened in Occidental Mindoro.
UNSC offers to bring in clean and reliable nuclear energy to the Philippines usin a micro modular reactor (MMR) energy system, which is a fourth generation nuclear energy system that seeks to deliver safe, clean, and cost-effective electricity to users. It is currently being licensed in Canada and the US and considered the first “fission battery” in commercialization.
Maxeon, a global leader in solar energy innovation is putting up a $900 million investment in the country which can generate around 3,000 jobs in the next few years.
“The Philippines has been incredibly important… it’s actually a strategic part of our company,” said Bill Mulligan, CEO of Maxeon which operates the SunPower brand in all global markets including the Maxeon brand in the United States, Canada and Japan,
Maxeon, which designs, manufactures and sells advanced SunPower and Maxeon-branded solar panels, has an existing research and development facility in Cavite which currently employs around 2,000 engineers in the area. It first opened its facilities in the Philippines in 2003 and later opened its first factory at the Laguna Technopark in Biñan City in 2004 under the name of Sunpower Philippines Manufacturing Ltd.
Maxeon, which also has major manufacturing facilities in Malaysia and Mexico, has seven projects in Biñan consisting of manufacturing, IT, and logistics activity, and has provided training for more than 1,000 solar engineers and skilled workers and managers, among others.
Healthcare services provider Optum has committed to invest P800 million in medical BPO in the Philippines that would provide around 1,500 jobs.
BPO expansion
John Prince, president and chief operating officer of Optum which is part of the UnitedHealth Group (UHG), said the medical BPO investment is part of the company’s efforts to broaden its operations in the country.
UHG and Optum have been operating in the Philippines since 2011 and have invested P5.1 billion in capital expenditure in operating four sites in Taguig, Muntinlupa, Quezon City, and Cebu City. It is involved in a broad range of healthcare information management services, including clinical, revenue cycle management, pharmacy services and benefit management, payment integrity, quality and risk adjustment, technology, and other services delivered across voice, non-voice and blended processes.
Atento, meanwhile, committed to set up its first call center in the Philippines at the Iloilo Business Park in Mandurriao, Iloilo.
The P21.4-million investment is expected to generate 554 jobs in the first year and 665 workers in the second year.
Atento is a customer relationship management and business process outsourcing company operating in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Morocco, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Spain, Uruguay and the US.
As this developed, the International Business Machines (IBM) Corp., committed and looks forward to its continued working in the Philippines as it expands its investments in digitalization.
IBM International Trade Policy Government and Regulatory Affairs’ executive Michael DiPaula Coyle, during his meeting with the President, said they are “very, very bullish” on the Philippines.
“We’re also very heavily invested in helping grow your talent pool through skills development programs, we’ve had a number of partnerships with the US government with your government to improve skills development particularly in areas like… AI and cybersecurity where I think the Philippines has an enormous opportunity to position yourselves as very competitive economy particularly in the IT services sector,” said Coyle.
Health investments
Moderna Inc., a biotechnology company pioneering messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines and therapeutics, said it would establish an Enterprise Solutions Hub and commercial operations in the Philippines which would provide services to the Asia Pacific region.
Executives of Moderna called on the President in Washington and shared that the Enterprise Solutions Hub will initially house finance, pharmacovigilance, medical and human resources personnel numbering to approximately 40-50 employees in 2023.
Moderna was among the companies that provided the vaccines during the coronavirus diseases (COVID-19) pandemic
Meanwhile, USAID committed $8 million to support the Philippines’ global health security bid by investing in the country’s biosafety and laboratory capacity, disease surveillance, risk communication, and emergency preparedness.
USAID will also partner with the Department of Health to address the double burden of non-communicable diseases and tuberculosis by ensuring access to quality treatment, expanding the Philippines National Tuberculosis Reference Lab and introducing the use the Targeted Next-Generation Sequencing technology to address drug-resistant strains. With Irma Isip
