GMA NETWORK
 
Japanese companies focusing on education and the food and beverage industry are keen on investing in the Philippines, given the large population and English-speaking capabilities of, an official of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) said Friday.
 
More Japanese companies are craning towards the Philippines as an expanding Southeast Asian economy, JETRO director-in-charge of service industry Hironobu Kitagawa told reporters in Makati City on the sidelines of the 2nd International Symposium on Service Industry.
 
"Japanese companies didn't know the Philippine market, because they [couldn't] see. Now, the Philippine market has momentum, soon we have to choose Philippine market," he noted.
 
Last year, the Philippines posted a 7.2 percent growth in gross domestic product (GDP) from 6.8 percent in 2012, making the country Asia's second fastest growing economy next to China.
 
In the second quarter of 2014, the Philippine economy expanded by 6.4 percent, matching that of Malaysia as the second fastest in Asia next to China, from 5.6 percent in the first quarter and 7.9 percent a year earlier.
 
The interest of food and beverage companies are being kindled by the Philippine population, Kitagawa said.
 
"They aim to have a new market. They see the Philippine market has potential for Japanese companies," he said.
 
Another competitive edge of the Philippines in the eyes of Japanese companies is the country's characteristic as an English-speaking nation, which bodes well for education-related investments, the JETRO official noted.
 
There seems to be not much of a language barrier, unlike in Thailand, Vietnam... "It's easy to access for Japanese companies," Kitagawa said.
 
"Also, the Japanese English education market is shrinking. Philippines has core competence in English," he added.
 
To attract more Japanese investments, the Philippines should market itself more to Japan, Kitagawa said.
 
"Japanese companies do not know the real market in purity... because they can't see what kind of lifestyle is in the Philippines or what kind of business is being done in Philippines," he said.
 
Out of the over 150 participants, JETRO brought 30 to 40 Japanese companies to the symposium.
 
"They would like to investigate new partnerships, new investment frontier in the Philippines," he said.
 
"We'll see more Japanese companies here in the near future as the Philippine market is becoming larger and larger," he added.