Quality workers drawing Korean investors to Cebu

CEBU, Philippines — Aside from being captivated by Cebu’s touristic charms, Korean nationals are now looking at Cebu as its investment hub especially on manufacturing and industrial businesses.

Cebu Korean Association (CKA) president Charlie Cho in a press conference Wednesday revealed that due to the Philippines’s good reputation on highly-skilled and rich labor force, Korean investors are now looking at Cebu specifically for their expansion plans outside their country.

Cho mentioned the STX company, a Korean shipping building firm, which is currently working on establishing a plant in Cebu that could employ hundreds if not thousands of people.

Aside from KEPCO (Korean Electric Power Corporation) which has an existing plant in the City of Naga, Cho said there is another power company that expressed interest to build a plant in Cebu.

Korea Water Resources, which already has a partnership deal with San Miguel Corporation in Manila, is also looking at expanding in Cebu.

These three Korean companies are already starting negotiating with possible partners in Cebu.

“Cebu has good quality of labor,” said Cho adding that Cebu’s reputation in Korea has expanded from merely a tourist destination and ESL (English as Second Language) site, to a playground of Korean investors.

At present, there are over 20 thousand Koreans living and studying in Cebu, reported Cho.

Out of the 1.2 million Korean tourists that arrived in the Philippines as of last year, 900,000 or majority went to Cebu, only 300,000 Korean visited Boracay last year.

The Cebu Korean Association also recently welcomed the new honorary Consul of Republic of Korea to Cebu Oh Young Hun.