Thailand
Malaysian companies seeking Philippines partners
Attracted by the Philippine’s growing market and economy, six Malaysian mid-tier companies from the construction, food and beverage, energy generation, and automotive and industrial lubricants sectors are currently in the country to search for potential partners, an official of the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) said.
MATRADE recently organized a market immersion to the Philippines to link Malaysian companies with potential business partners and buyers in the country and to provide an avenue for investors to better understand the local market through engagement.
Mid-tier companies are the fastest growing enterprises in Malaysia, employing about 22 percent of the country’s workforce and contributing 33 percent to the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP).
“We selected a few comapanies that have a revenue size of about 50 million Malaysian ringgit. They are selected based on their revenue and their prospects. It means they have to show growth, positive performance for the past three yesrs to be eligible to enter this program,” said MATRADE Deputy Chief Executive Sharimahton Mat Saleh.
The companies which are currently in the Philippines for the mission, are Lubetech, MMK Spices, Plus Solar, Lifewater Industries Sdn Bhd, Starken AAC Sdn Bhd, and Auto Count Sdn Bhd.
“Establishing a joint venture with a Filipino entity is one of the alternatives for Malaysian companies to gain access into the Philippine market,” said Sharimahton.
She said the prospect for Malaysian businesses in the Philippine market “remains promising” due to its size and economic growth.
Sharimahton said the mission aims not only aims to increase trade and investments between the Malaysia and the Philippines, but also for the entire Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).
“We are looking at this market called potential collaboration because for example you have a strong BPO, Malaysian companies have some products that we can develop together. They already have some intellectual properties and we see the prospect of this to grow, we can grow together for the Philippine market,” she said.
MATRADE Trade Commissioner Siti Azlina said Malaysian companies expressed intent to participate in the government’s infrastructure program.
“One of the sectors that we are looking at in the Philippines is construction because of the Build, Build, Build policy of President Duterte. We in Malaysia are very much interested to be part of that,” said Siti.
Data from the Department of Statistics Malaysia provided by the group showed that total trade between the Philippines and Malaysia grew by 9.48 percent to $4.79 billion in January to September this year from $4.37 billion a year ago.
Philippine exports to Malaysia went up by 9.1 percent to $1.69 billion from $1.55 billion while exports of Malaysia to the Philippines also rose 9.7 percent to $3.10 billion from $2.82 billion.
Sharimahton said investments of Malaysian companies to the Philippines already amounted to $69.38 million for the first four months of the year. Full year investments to the Philippines in 2017 was $9.39 billion, she said.
Source: https://www.manilatimes.net/malaysian-companies-seeking-ph-partners/474525/