Philip Morris to invest $300 M for new facility

Philip Morris Co. Inc. said yesterday it is pushing through with its plan to invest $300 million in the country for the development of a new and expanded cigarette manufacturing facility in Southern Tagalog.

This announcement came as PMCI chairman and chief executive officer Geoffrey Bible met with Trade and Industry Secretary Manuel Roxas II who told reporters that the company’s management has just approved the investment which is scheduled to be ratified formally by its board of directors.

The development could not have come at a better time as the Estrada administration has struggled in the midst of the jueteng scandal that involved no less than the Chief Executive.

Bible was accompanied by PMCI chief operating officer William Webb and company president Duck Song on a courtesy call on President Estrada in Malacañang.

This is not a new investment and had been waiting for approval by the PMCI management since early this year. However, Roxas said it was a good indication that the company decided to proceed with its investment despite the ongoing crisis and the depreciation of the peso against the dollar.

"At least they are not pulling out," Roxas said. "Investors who are already here know that one can look beyond these political developments because the Philippines is still a good place to invest in."

According to Roxas, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) also approved the $300-million expansion plan of US-Korean semiconductor company, Amor Anam.

However, Roxas admitted that the jueteng scandal would still have an impact on investments and government’s efforts to attract them.

"Anytime there is turbulence, there is going to be an impact," he said. "But we have to put this turbulence within the context of bigger political events, in this case, the elections in May."

Investment inflow into the country had been on a record downturn. Total investments under the government’s various incentives programs dropped by 32.94 percent during the first seven months of the year from P221.108 billion last year to P148.246 billion.

PMCI itself has been pressured out of the North American and European markets, hard hit by the dramatic contraction in the increasingly health-conscious markets that pushed the world’s biggest cigarette manufacturers to move into Asia and Africa where the markets continue to expand by leaps and bounds.

Philip Morris already has tobacco processing and manufacturing facilities in Remban, Malaysia and Malang, Indonesia.

According to Roxas, the company plans to put up a new joint venture with its long-time local partner, La Suerte Cigar and Cigarette Factory which would eventually seek the registration of its project with the Board of Investments.