Filipino roadshow in Italy a big success

MANILA, Philippines - The current revival of the Filipino economy has been the absolute protagonist today among the business community of the ‘economic capital’ of Italy – Milan.

A big audience composed of 370 local entrepreneurs – 200 of which were inside the venue, with the rest participating via streaming connection – attended the first leg of the Philippine roadshow promoted by the Italian Embassy in Manila, in partnership with the Board of Investments of the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry and the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines.

All seats were occupied and yet there were those who had to stand at the grand hall of the Chamber of Commerce in Milan. The aim was to inform the business community about the many opportunities that the Philippines has to offer to Italian and European companies who are targeting the Asian markets, including China, Japan, South Korea and the ASEAN countries.

Luca Fornari, the Italian Ambassador to the Philippines, explains: “Italians are aware of the great qualities of Filipinos who are working in our country, but they are not aware of all the advantages that could be offered to them should they decide to invest in the Philippines, be it in manufacturing and/or service and after-sales operations. Moreover, the core of Italian entrepreneurship in fashion, design, furniture and other industries is composed of very dynamic small and medium enterprises that need to set up their international operations in countries where communication is easy and where they can establish friendly partnerships based on trust and transparency. And I believe that there is no other place in Asia where this can be done as easily as in the Philippines.”

President Aquino himself has been briefly informed about the initiative taken by Ambassador Fornari on the occasion of Philippine Independence Day and took an interest in this communication format for promoting our country abroad.

The Filipino delegation was headed by Tong Buencamino, senior trade representative of the DTI’s European office in Berlin. The audience took a strong interest in everything – from the information on the opportunities offered by the Philippine economic zones, to the whole set of PPP projects undertaken by the Aquino government. The audience openly applauded Riccardo Mattei – the CEO of Leigh Fisher Italia, a consultant to the World Bank and the Philippine government – for the launch of the PPP projects and bids. It was also Mattei who announced that within the next few days, a meeting organized by the Philippine government with the future investors under the PPP initiatives will take place.

“The right time to look at the Philippines is now,” said Mattei, who also praised the “high competence” of the public officials that he met. During the meeting, Carlo Cordaro of Filveneer, Roberto Fazzini of Italfood and Joey Leviste of Constellation Energy, related to the audience their personal (and very successful) experiences in the country. There were many questions by Italian entrepreneurs of different industries, ranging from fashion to car components, who want to explore the possibility of setting up new operations in the Philippines.

Those who attended the meeting also received a business guide published for this occasion – How and why to make business in the Philippines – sponsored by a group of Italian companies.

“We believe that we need to inform our friends in Italy about all the opportunities they can have in this country,” says Armando de Rossi, one the sponsors and the head of the newly established Italian Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines. The other Italian companies and entrepreneurs supporting the program are: Trevi Foundation Group (a construction company), Ettore Rossi (CEO and founder of Advanced Foundation, Construction Systems Corp.), Carlo Cordaro (FilVeneer), Gianni Guidicelli (president and founder of Cebu Flamingo), Niccolò Terrei (CEO and founder of Elburg Ship Management) and Assicurazioni Generali, the biggest life insurance company in Europe – owner of Generali Pilipinas.

The other meetings of the roadshow, hosted by the local Chambers of Commerce, are currently taking place in Padua, near Venice, and in Turin (the Italian car industry hub). On June 27 in Rome, a final meeting will be hosted by the Italian Confederation of Industries (Confindustria) with the support of Philippine Commercial Attaché John Paul B. Iñigo, and Philippine Ambassador to Italy Romeo L. Manalo.

The start of the roadshow also attracted a lot of attention from the local media, especially from the leading Italian business newspaper – Il Sole 24 Ore – which dedicated its online edition and its international business page to the Filipino economic revival.