SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – The Philippine Trade and Investment Centre – Sydney (PTIC-Sydney) in partnership with Ayala Land International, hosted the CEO business roundtable, an exclusive gathering of business leaders which was held last Thursday, 23 February 2023 at the Republic Hotel in Sydney.
During the event, key opportunities in the Philippines for Australian businesses where discussed, including opportunities in the booming property market in the country and the Philippines being part of the recently ratified Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement – the world’s largest free trade deal.
Philippine trade representative to Australia, Alma Argayoso, highlighted the Philippines’ economic performance with 7.6% GDP growth in 2022 making the country as the second fastest growing economy in ASEAN. Argayoso underscored in her remarks the favourable investment climate in the Philippines with foreign investors’ continued trust in the Philippine market and positive reaffirmation from top and credible credit rating agencies.
“Locating in the Philippines means Australian companies will get access to the RCEP participating countries, convenient access to the ASEAN market, and to other key markets through our Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) with other countries and regions such as EU, EFTA, UK, Russia, Canada and the US,” Argayoso explained.
“Investments are placed highly on the president’s economic agenda. With the Philippine government’s continued commitment to streamlining business processes, improving infrastructure, and ensuring energy security combined with new legislations passed such as the CREATE Act, we are ready to make it happen for Australian investors in the Philippines,” Argayoso added.
Meanwhile, Caroline Magpantay, Ayala Land’s regional head for America, Asia, Oceania and Europe, said Ayala Land has a solid track record in developing large-scale, integrated mixed-use estates in the Philippines. “What sets us apart is our unique track record of value with compounded annual growth rate of 16%. Some of our developments are more than 50 years old already but they remain to be leading residences in the Philippines,” Magpantay explained.
“We are confident things will continue to improve in the Philippines. Economists such as London-based macroeconomic research organization, Capital Economics, projected the Philippines to become the 18th biggest economy in 2050,” Magpantay added.
Further, Magpantay advised the CEOs to position early and not to wait until all infrastructure projects are already finished for the prices would already be too expensive by then.
The CEO business roundtable was attended by CEOs from some of Australia’s leading businesses – Comms Group Limited, BAMS Commercial Fitout, Property Land and Consultants Pty Ltd, Southern Infrastructure Pty Ltd, HY Capital, Balboa Corporate and Silicon Valley HQ, among others. END ♦
Date of Release: 27 February 2023