USPS seeks business openings for US firms

MANILA, Philippines - The US Philippines Society (USPS) is set to identify business opportunities in the country for American firms following its meeting with government officials and the local business sector, with the aim of bringing more investments here.

According to Ambassador John Negroponte, co-chair of the USPS, the group would come up with an internal report that would identify areas to strengthen cooperation between the firms of the two countries.

“We will do an internal paper that will identify areas for deepening our cooperation and identifying high-level trade delegation from the US that will come here in the future,” he said.

The report would be shared with members of the USPS.

John Maisto, president of the USPS, acknowledged that the time is ripe to continue to strengthen ties between the two countries given the achievements of the Philippine government.

“It is a good time to be refocusing on the Philippines as what we have done in the past eight months and what we continue to do,” he said.

He noted that the institutional reforms being made by the government, such as the fight against corruption, has affected the level of investments being made by American firms here.

He said the fight against corruption and positive economic performance also sends a clear message to the American investors.

“This message keeps coming through and it is a message that is well-received,” he said.

“Our objective is to look at areas where  American business would be more interested in investments here which is what we will do in our study here and share with the membership as we raise the profile of the Philippines in the US and put emphasis on new modern US-Philippines relationship,” he said further.

Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Cuisia Jr. added that while conditions are conducive to strengthen relations between the US and the Philippines through greater trade and investments, concerns remain on infrastructure, high cost of power and limit on foreign ownership.

“These are all important if we are to attract long-term foreign direct investments,” he said.

He said that despite the concerns they hope to bring new investors to the country.

Among the areas where they want new investments to come in are energy and mining.

The USPS led the powerhouse delegation of business corporations from the US looking for business opportunities in the country this week.

The USPS is a non-profit organization which seeks to raise the Philippines’ profile in the US.

It is collaborating with the Philippine Embassy in working on its objective.