MANILA: Chinese companies are still interested to invest in the Philippines despite the nations’ dispute in the South China Sea, a top Manila trade official said on Friday (Sept 13).
Some of the biggest Chinese firms in renewable energy and electric vehicles have expressed "very strong interest” to expand in the Philippines, Trade Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo (pic) said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Friday. He declined to identify them.
"The discussions now are about putting up manufacturing facilities in the Philippines...and also using the Philippines as a hub for the South-East Asia region,” said Rodolfo, who visited Xiamen and Beijing prior to arriving in Hong Kong.
The investment talks underline the Philippines’ efforts to insulate economic ties with China, its top trading partner, from geopolitical tensions that have escalated between the two countries over competing claims in the South China Sea. - Bloomberg
