Philips, ADB bat for energy efficiency investments in Phl

MANILA, Philippines - Philips, a diversified consumer health care and lighting company, has stressed the importance of energy efficiency  initiatives in the Philippines.

Harjit Gill, chief executive officer of Philips Asean & Pacific, said it is important to raise consumers’ awareness on energy efficiency, saying  it would strongly benefit the economy.

Gill recently spoke during the recent 8th Asia Clean Energy Forum organized by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

In the same forum, officials presented the results of an ADB study, which said that if governments push for more energy efficiency investments, there would be less need to build power plants.

This, in turn, would free up government funds for spending elsewhere, the ADB study said.

Gill said that as a company, Philips has a wide array of consumer products such as LED lights that promote energy efficiency.

The company is banking on growing sales in the Philippines and the rest of the Asia-Pacific region to hit its double-digit growth target for the year.

“The plan is to grow our business here,” Gill said.

 â€œThe region is growing. Our ambition is to grow double-digit,” she said.

Growth will come from Philips three major business segments – healthcare, consumer lifestyle and lighting.

In the first quarter of the year, the growth markets, including Asia Pacific,  contributed 34 percent of global sales driven by strong consumer demand.

In the Philippines, she said the company would continue to bring energy efficient lighting solutions and would target several institutional clients such as hospitals, government buildings and offices of multinational firms for its LED lighting solutions.

She said the rising growth of the middle-class segment would help the company meet its growth targets.

Gill also urged government to focus on energy-efficiency policies in collaboration with the private sector.

“It’s really about collaboration to accelerate the promotion of energy-efficiency policies in the Philippines,” she said.

Gill said that in the healthcare segment, Philips aims to improve access to quality healthcare and reduce overall cost to consumers.

“For professionals, this means accurate testing that is conducted more often, helping to diagnose more accurately or track patients’ progress. For patients, this means reduced access and earlier inclusion into the healthcare system as well as dignified healthcare,”Philips said in a separate statement.