28 October 2015 – Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose L. Cuisia, Jr. brings a delegation from the Philippines to Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas for the 4th Private Sector-Led Philippine Investment Roadshow in the United States. The delegation also came from Pittsburgh and will move on to Seattle as part of their efforts to promote the Philippines as an investment destination.
The Philippine delegation is headed by prominent Filipino economist Dr. Bernardo Villegas, Professor and Director of Research at the University of Asia and the Pacific. The delegation is composed of Mr. Ronaldo Elepaño Jr., 1st Vice President for International Business Development, DM Consunji, Inc.; Mr. Jose Mari Mercado, President and CEO, Information Technology & Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP); Mr. Gilbert Camasura, Partner of ZMG Ward Howell, and Mr. Juan Peña, President of RAJI Inc.
The Business Forum for the Investment Roadshow was held on October 21 at the Hyatt Regency DFW International Airport, with around 165 participants representing various businesses both mainstream and Filipino-American. This event was made possible through the efforts of Honorary Consul Ethel Mercado of Dallas, Texas, Mr. Gus Mercado, CEO of Datalogix Texas, Inc. and the Officers of the Philippine American Chamber of Commerce (PACC) – Texas, particularly, Ms. Myrna Carreon, PACC Region Chair, with the cooperation of the Los Angeles Philippine Consulate General and Philippine Trade and Investment Center Trade Commissioner and Director Jojie Dinsay.
In his welcome remarks, Ambassador Cuisia mentioned that he greatly appreciates the big turnout of attendees at Dallas – Fort Worth. The Dallas – Fort Worth leg had the biggest number of attendees among the cities visited by the Philippine delegation. Some of the notable guests included executives from Texas Instruments, American Airlines, Fluor Corporation, Rio Grande Pacific Corporation, World Affairs Council, Forth Worth chamber of Commerce and Greater Dallas Asian American Chamber of Commerce.
In his presentation, Dr. Villegas showed the improved macroeconomic condition of the Philippines and explained how the Philippines transitioned from the “Sick Man of Asia” to “Asia’s New Emerging Tiger.” Delegation members made individual presentations highlighting specific business opportunities for investors in key sectors of energy, real estate, infrastructure development, IT-BPM, human resource, and transportation. The attendees appreciated the opportunity to be updated about the developments in the Philippines as well as the opportunities available for trade and investment in key sectors as discussed by each member of the delegation.
The presentations were followed by a question and answer portion covering topics such as the leading economic sectors of the Philippines, doing business in the Philippines, upcoming Philippine elections and the Philippines’ fight against corruption.
Discussions divided by industry specific groupings were also done to cap off the event. This included a big break-out group on the sector of transportation in which Mr. Richard Bertel, chairman and CEO of Rio Grande Pacific Corp. (RGPC) together with other executives from the same company continued talks with Mr. Juan Pena, who represented the sector for the Philippines.
The Investment Roadshow aims to present economic updates and various investment opportunities in the Philippines to the business community at Dallas Forth Worth, Texas. END