Cebu FDI at P6B monthly: Yu

FOREIGN direct investments (FDIs) pour in P6 billion to Cebu’s economy each month, the Cebu Investment Promotions Center (CIPC) said.

The amount, says managing director Joel Mari Yu, does not include an estimated P1.6 billion brought about indirectly by businesses benefitting from these FDIs.

For Yu, Cebu outperforms all other provinces in the country because of the presence of FDIs.

During the launch of CIPC’s new promotion video Friday, Yu presented figures from the Philippine Export Zone Authority (Peza) showing some P3.29 billion in wages being paid to employees in the manufacturing and information technology/business process outsourcing sectors each month. An additional P3.29 billion is estimated for maintenance and operating expenses, bringing to P6.5 billion the cash infused into the
economy each month.

The presence of FDIs in Cebu allows for annual indirect employment of 202,150 due to an increase in number of support industries such as cafés and restaurants, boarding houses, apartments & condominiums, insurance, banks, bars, massage parlors, education, transport, shopping centers and malls. The CIPC estimates that wages paid indirectly reach P1.6 billion a month.

Employment

The employment opportunities brought about by FDIs contribute to the purchasing power of Cebu’s residents.

Six manufacturing economic zones in Cebu exported a combined $3.58 billion from 278 locators. They employed 107,150 workers, figures from the Peza stated.

As for IT-BPO, they counted 139 locators based at the Cebu IT Park, Cebu Business Park, HVG IT Park and 52 IT buildings with an estimated 95 employees.

Yu noted that Singapore’s economy comprises 98 percent FDIs while it has only a few big companies to its name. “Everybody is working for an FDI. Look what it has done for them,” he said.

He compared the Philippines with Singapore, which has focused on attracting FDIs, and Thailand, which has done well to attract some FDIs to their country.

Singapore earned $167.08 billion from FDIs from 2010 to 2012 while Thailand earned $25 billion for the same period. The Philippines, for its part, only earned $4.1 billion for the three years.

The new promotion video that Yu unveiled identified Cebu as the Philippines’ best-seller, pointing out the frequent flights to Cebu’s airports and its access to an international port. It also cited the presence of a skilled labor force and highlighted the South Road Properties as an ideal spot for investments.

The eight-minute video was produced by IC Productions and funded by Globe Telecom, PLDT, the Visayan Electric Co. and the Cebu City Government.

Gerardo Sta. Ana, chairman of the Cebu Economic and Business Foundation, which operates the CIPC, said the video needed an update from the previous one which was released in 2006 and produced by Bigfoot.