FFCCCI drafts Chinese version of RP investment rules to attract investors

The Federation of Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce Inc. (FFCCCI), one of the country’s oldest and biggest business groups, is drafting a Chinese language version of Philippine investment rules and regulations to attract investors from the Chinese mainland.

Francis Chua, president of the FFCCCI, explained that the chamber plans to translate all relevant investment-related documents such as the Board of Investments Primer and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Guidelines to Chinese to assist investors from China.

The translation would be in Mandarin, Chua said, "although there are hundred of dialects in China, the written word is the same."

With an investment rule book in their native tongue, Chua said, it would be easier for Chinese investors to hunt for business opportunities in the country particularly in tourism which the FFCCCI has been promoting.

The move would complement FFCCCI’s efforts to arrange weekly investment and tourism missions from China and strike a partnership with Chinese business groups as part of its efforts to help the government get new money from China.

The project is part of the activities being undertaken by the FFCCCI in celebration of three decades of diplomatic ties between the Philippines and China on June 9 at the Manila Hotel.

"Thirty years ago, the Philippines and China issued a joint communiqué which marked the beginning of its diplomatic relations. And that fateful day has borne fruit," Chua said.

"We are now seeing an exponential rise in trade between the Philippines and China. With direct investments from China for infrastructure, industrial, agricultural and mining projects, we hope that this would also mark the beginning of long-term investments in the Philippines," he added.

Chua highlighted China’s rapid rise in the past three decades and how the Philippines could emulate the former sleeping giant’s economic awakening.

"Thanks to Deng Xiaopeng, his political and economic reforms have transformed China into a global economic super power almost overnight. The once impoverished China under Deng has flourished with profound landscapes, skyscrapers, roads, bridges, railways, power plants and now the Mecca for international investors," Chua said.

Like China, Chua said, the Philippines also has the potential to achieve spectacular economic growth.

"The Philippines has so much potential to emulate the same transformation. We are blessed with a most hard-working President. If only we could give Her Excellency the same trust, confidence and support that the Chinese people gave to Deng Xiaopeng, we could also flourish like China," Chua said.