From monthly economic forums that are held in cooperation with the German Embassy and the German Club Manila, to quarterly Company Visits where members of the Chamber get an opportunity to see behind the scenes of other companies.

Several times a year, GPCCI invites its members to Networking Nights where members meet up to socialize and exchange experiences of doing business in the Philippines.

Once a year, GPCCI presents MABUHAY GERMANY, a German exposition in Bonifacio High Street, Bonifacio Global City.

Our upcoming events can be found under the news section.

Economic Forum

The Economic Forum or “Wirtschaftsstammtisch” is open to everyone. It is organized by the German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (GPCCI) in cooperation with the German Club Manila and the German Embassy Manila, who aim to keep the German-Filipino business community updated on current economic issues in the Philippines and world-wide. Well-known guest speakers from the private and the public sector share information about their projects, knowledge and experience. The Forum gives also room for participants to address their questions to the guest speaker and to further discuss the topic after the speaker’s presentation.

It is held almost every 3^rd Thursday of a month in the German Club.
The usual schedule is as follows:

Registration: 6:30 pm
Dinner buffet: 7:00 pm
Speech: 8:00 pm
Q & A: 8:30 pm

Check out the presentations of preceding Economic Forums:

2012:

January – Fritz Ocampo, Chief Investment Officer and Director of the Asset Management Team of Deutsche Bank AG Manila presents an “Economic Outlook: What to expect in 2012?”

2011:

November - Oscar Reyes, Chief Operating Officer of MERALCO about “MERALCO’s Agenda”

September - Guillermo Luz, Private Sector Co-Chairman of the National Competitiveness Council about “Building a Culture of Competitiveness”

August - Garry Kingshott, CEO Adviser of Cebu Pacific Airlines about “Aviation Liberalization”

July - Jonathan Ravelas, Chief Marketing Strategist of BDO about “Building Blocks for the Future”

May - Undersecretary L. Panlilio, Vice Chairman and CEO of Board of Investment about “Invest in the Philippines, Invest in Growth”

Company Visit

Company Visits are organized three to four times a year for all GPCCI members. They are a platform for all members to present their company to other members who, in return, get the opportunity to have a closer insight into the facilities and products of the company.

The program of a Company Visit can, in general, be chosen by the host. It often comprises a power point presentation with basic information about the company, a guided tour and snacks to accompany individual talks and networking opportunities.

If you are interested in hosting a Company Visit, kindly send us an e-mail to info@gpcci.org or call us at +63 (0) 2 336 6845 .

Past Events

December 5  Christmas Cocktail in German Club
About 60 members of GPCCI and honorable guests attended the GPCCI Christmas Cocktail on December 5. After Reiner Allgeier, President of GPCCI, had given his welcome remarks and warmest Christmas wishes to everybody, free drinks and a toothsome buffet were offered in the nicely decorated German Club. With a big picture of Schloss Neuschwanstein on the wall, Christmas lights everywhere and a fabulous Christmas tree, the German Club provided the perfect ambiance for this event. The German “Christstollen” made the evening perfect.
GPCCI was delighted to welcome the German Ambassador Dr. Joachim Heidorn and his wife Anna-Maria Werner-Heidorn and also Ms. Delia Albert-Domingo, former Philippine Ambassador to Germany, at the cocktail, and to celebrate the approaching festivities together with them. The attendees took the chance to meet friends that they have not seen for a long time and to exchange all good wishes, “Frohe Weihnachten”, “Maligayang Pasko” and “Merry Christmas”.

November 21-25  “renewables – Made in Germany” initiative in South-East Asia, German entrepreneurs from the solar energy sector visited the PH
For more information, kindly click here.

November 22  Economic Forum with Oscar Reyes
The German Club was packed on the evening of November 22nd when Oscar Reyes, Chief Operating Officer of MERALCO, briefed the German-Philippine business community about “MERALCO’s Agenda”. The food was excellent as always and MERALCO sponsored free drinks for the audience. Eight German companies from the solar energy sector were among them. They visited the Philippines to explore the Philippine market for solar energy and to find business partners. They were delighted to be able to attend the forum and they listened closely to Mr. Reyes’ speech. The main points of MERALCO’s agenda are 1. adequate, reliable, quality power – 24/7; 2. stable and affordable power cost – contain cost increases; 3. “cleaner energy”; and 4. highly responsive and satisfactory service. The audience was especially interested in the composition of the prices and in how MERALCO is planning to keep the prices stable. The complete presentation can be viewed on our website in the “News” section.

October 19  The Philippines – Germany´s Business Partner in Asia and the Pacific
On October 19, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Munich and upper Bavaria (IHK Munich/Upper Bavaria) invited to an investment forum with the title “The Philippines – Germany’s Business Partner in Asia and the Pacific”. It was organized in collaboration with GPCCI, the Philippine Embassy in Berlin, the Honorary Consulate of the Philippines in Munich and the Hanns-Seidel Foundation. The participants were welcomed by Dr. Peter Witterauf, CEO of the Hanns-Seidel-Foundation, by Johannes Huber, Director of the Department for International Economic Affairs of the IHK, and by H.E. Ms. Maria Cleofe Natividad, Philippine Ambassador to Germany.
Dr. Lilia de Lima, Director General of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority gave an overview about “Opportunities for Foreign Investors in Philippine Economic Zones”. Strategies for SMEs to outsource in the Philippines were revealed by Klaus Preschle, Founder of Professionals Asia.
The program ended with testimonials of two German companies who are based in the Philippines: Bosch Communication Center (represented by Gerd Hauer, Senior Sales Manager of Bosch Communications Center Magdeburg GmbH), whose first communications resource center in Asia is in the Philippines, and Datronicsoft Inc. (represented by its President Marcel Rüdiger), a software developer for device drivers. Both spoke passionately of the Philippines and immensely contributed to the positive mood during the forum.
The forum was attended by 19 participants from the private sector. Some of the German participants are already operating in the Philippines. Their managing directors and CEOs commented that the forum was very useful. They suggested that forums like this should be organized on a regular basis.
As a reaction to the forum, a credit risk analysis company (Bayern LB) announced that it will now provide more information on the Philippines as it advises its clients who have growing businesses in East and Southeast Asia.

October 7-9  Mabuhay Germany 2011 – “Winning Moments”

Thanks to the hard-working Mabuhay Germany Committee, GPCCI’s biggest event of the year was, again, a great success! An estimated number of 15.000 visitors made their way to Bonifacio High Street, Bonifacio Global City, despite of the rain to enjoy German quality products and entertainment or just the “German atmosphere”. 30 German and Filipino companies exhibited their products and services in a record number of 40 booths for a whole weekend in Bonifacio High Street. Countless interested visitors stopped for a business talk or chat and had fun while playing the exhibitors’ games of the Mabuhay Germany Scavenger Hunt. Especially the give-aways enjoyed great popularity.
The event started with a spectacular Grand Opening on Friday, October 7. After the welcome remarks by Reiner Allgeier, President of GPCCI, Ma. Laarni Cayetano, Mayor of Taguig, and newly assigned German Ambassador Dr. Joachim Heidorn, the audience witnessed the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement between the City of Taguig and the City of Freiburg, which was the highlight of the evening. With this agreement, the two cities aim to promote cooperation on various social, technological and environmental programs, such as carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction, climate change adaptation, disaster preparation, city planning, and improvement of the public transport system. It was initiated by Robert Bosch Inc. Philippines and proudly facilitated by GPCCI.

A three-day entertainment program for the whole family was organized by GPCCI and some German institutions such as the German Embassy, the German Development Corporation (GIZ), the German European School Manila, the Goethe Institut Manila and the German Alumnis in fantastic team work. A big variety of German food was provided by eight concessionaires, who took great care of the physical well-being of the visitors. Two symposiums, one organized by GIZ, one organized by the Goethe Institut Manila, tackled very interesting topics and provided a big amount of well-researched and well-presented information. The professionally organized Job Fair was a good platform to connect GPCCI member
companies to qualified employees.

The 2nd edition of our table football competition tied working colleagues closer together and led to more “Winning Moments”. The Embassy Eagles (Tina Rast of German Embassy with her husband Tobias Rast of German Club) were the skilled and lucky winners. “Winning Moments” was also the topic of our Photo Competition in which more than 40 people participated. Have a look at the winning picture on our GPCCI facebook page!

We were very proud to host two world-class German jazz bands this year for the first time since the existence of Mabuhay Germany! The musicians from Germany are all young professional graduates of the Music Academy in Cologne/Germany, who have won several national and international music awards. The “Hot Brownies” presented an astonishing program on Friday evening during the Grand Opening. “The WiLLiT Blend” band gave the crowd an insight in a special kind of German jazz style on Sunday afternoon
and had a spectacular jam session with the Vince Lahorra Quartet, a Filipino jazz band. “The Bloomfields”, a Filipino Beatles cover band which performed on Saturday evening in the main tent, was, beyond any dispute, again a crowd drawer.

2011 – Celebrating “Winning Moments” – Have a look at the pictures and newspaper articles about Mabuhay German 2011 on our website: www.gpcci.org/home/mabuhay-germany/ and on our facebook page: www.facebook.com/GPCCI.org!

October 5  9th German Ambassador’s Golf Cup
In line with the Mabuhay Germany activities one event always stands out: We celebrated the German Unification with the 9th German Ambassador’s Cup that was held on Oct. 5, 2011 at Malarayat Golf and Country Club in Lipa, Batangas. The Ambassador’s Cup, in cooperation with the German Embassy, is our annual golf tournament which gives our members the opportunity to enjoy a good game while interacting with guest players from the government and other companies.
The tournament was spearheaded by Mr. Klaus Schroeder, GPCCI Board Member and former GPCCI President, who also served as master of ceremony during the event. The 9th German Ambassador’s Cup was graced by the presence of the newly arrived Ambassador Dr. Joachim Heidorn, who joined the awarding ceremony. Ambassador Dr. Heidorn also gave a speech during the ceremonies and presented the prizes to the winners of this year’s Ambassador’s Cup.
The winner of this year’s German Ambassador’s Cup was Mr. Enrique Luis Papa from the Office of Senator Koko Pimentel. But everyone was a winner that night as there was also a raffle in which all the players got to go home with a prize ranging from goodie bags, a putting machine to gift vouchers for Argonauta Resorts in Boracay.

September 28-30  PowerTrends 2011
The 8^th International Exhibition and Conference of Trends in Power Engineering and Energy Industry took place on September 28-30, 2011 in SMX Convention Center in Metro Manila Philippines. Exhibitors from Europe, the US and Asia featured the latest technologies for the power and energy industry in the Philippines and the north Asian region. This international business forum also facilitated technical workshops and networking events.
Being the world champion in developing and applying facilities to use renewable energies, Germany presented its export hits in an own pavilion. The exhibition in the German pavilion was supported by the Federal Government of Germany through its Export Initiative Renewable Energies / Energy Efficiency, which highlights the relevance of renewable energies and supports the overturn of products in this area in the German economy. Part of the pavilion was serviced by GPCCI to assist interested Filipino businessmen with their questions. Guest speakers, who came all the way from Germany, provided interesting information every day. The partnership of GPCCI, GIZ and ECCP was able to foster their joint initiative ”Renewables – Made in Germany“. To meet growing demand of an expanding economy, PowerTrends continued to devote significant attention also to traditional fossil-fuel energy sources even as it focuses on technologies to step-up renewables-based power generation. New and alternative sources were also presented such as nuclear, biofuels, and new directions in coal, oil and gas.

September 26  Information Event by IHK Düsseldorf
The Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) Düsseldorf invited interested companies to talk about ”The Philippines – Perspectives in a growing market”. H.E. Maria Cleofe R. Natividad, Ambassador of the Republic of the Philippines in Germany, and Heinz-Peter Heidrich, Honorary Consul of the Philippines, welcomed the participants in the office of IHK in Düsseldorf. Among the participants were representatives of GPCCI members who were sent by their parent company in Germany.
Selected speakers such as Manfred Klein, Consultant of the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Jose Antonio S. Buencamino, Commercial Counselor, Philippine Trade and Investment Center, Embassy of the Philippines, and Andreas Rubin, who is a lawyer in Germany, informed the audience about the economic situation in the Philippines as well as perspectives for the German economy.

September 15  Economic Forum with Guillermo Luz
“Building a Culture of Competitiveness“ is Mr. Guillermo Luz’ number one target being the Private Sector Co-Chairman of the National Competitiveness Council. He presented at the Economic Forum in September his ambitious plans to reach place two or three in the ranking of competitiveness among the ASEAN states. Compared to last year, the Philippines already registered a jump in the international ranking of competitiveness from place 85 to 75 – the biggest jump world-wide in 2010. One of Mr. Luz’ aims is the establishment of a Philippine brand. We assume that we are not going out on a limp when we say that almost everybody can picture the brand “Made in Germany”. But what do we think of when we read “Made in the Philippines”? Well, we are allexcited to find out. A separate committee within the organisation is working on this. An outcome is expected before this year ends. Mr. Luz’ personal point of view is that the country should focus on three sectors: 1. tourism, which was underinvested and underperforming, 2. mining, which got a great potential, and 3. ship management and shipping. He added three further criteria that will foster a positive impact on all sectors: improvement in infrastructure, education and judiciary.
Mr. Luz was the former Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Ayala Foundation. The National Competitiveness Council is a public-private sector body dedicated to building up and maintaining the long-term competitiveness of the country through policy reforms, project implementation, institution-building, performance monitoring, and goal-setting. The council works closely with all government agencies and the private sector to improve the Philippines’ competitive position as measured in our global rankings.

September 14   Integrity Summit
“Cultivating a Culture of Integrity” was the title of the Integrity Summit that was held at the Marriott Hotel Manila on September 14.With the goal of creating fair and competitive market conditions, the 1st Integrity Summit brought together local and global corporate leaders, anti-corruption experts, and senior government officials. They presented global trends in ethics compliance programs, as well as concrete ways to strengthen ethical business practices in the Philippines. As the Summit’s highlight, the private sector launched the Unified Code of Conduct for business in the presence of President Benigno Aquino III. The Code aims to institutionalize and promote honesty, transparency, and fairness in the business community.
The Integrity Summit derives from the Integrity Initiative, which was spearheaded by the Makati Business Club and the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines in 2009 and developed the Integrity Consortium (ICON) of which GPCCI is a member. The Integrity Initiative is a private sector-led campaign that aims to promote common ethical standards among various sectors of society. As part of the Integrity Initiative, companies are asked to join the “Integrity Pledge”. It is a formal and concrete expression of commitment by companies to abide by ethical business practices and to support a national campaign against corruption. It is signed by several hundreds of companies including 29 GPCCI members so far plus GPCCI itself. Have a look on their website and check out if your business partner is among them: www.integrityinitiative.com/signatories.php

September 12  Business trip to the Philippines to promote solar energy
As part of the “Renewables – Made in Germany” – Initiative in cooperation with GIZ, the GPCCI was invited to an information workshop in Berlin that was addressed to German business men interested in the export market in the Philippines. The workshop offered the possibility to register for a DIHK promoted and supported business trip to the Philippines and gave a general overview about solar energy / PV in the Philippines. The organizers were happy to have the Philippine Ambassador to Germany, H.E. Maria Cleofe R. Natividad, joining the workshop and welcoming the guests. The German Chamber was represented by Dr. Günter Matschuck, Vice President of GPCCI, and Nadine Fund, Business Development Manager of GPCCI.

September 8  Company Visit at Häfele Philippines, Inc.
A total of 28 participants enjoyed a very well-organized and well-hosted Company Visit. All participants were well received with kind smiles and little gifts. The serving of cold and hot drinks on the 2^nd floor in a café-like atmosphere fueled small talks and networking activities. After Matti Kaikkonen’s (Managing Director of Haefele Philippines Inc) introductory presentation, which was filled with interesting information, we set off for the company tour. From the “oohs” and “ahs” that could be heard all around, all we can say is that almost everybody was very impressed by not only the variety of products which Haefele has to offer but especially by their functionality. Many samples invited to try out how pleasant it would be to live with these high quality products that are designed to make live easier. The sample of a whole apartment evoked the following question more than once: “How much is it to stay over night?” Mr. Kaikkonen also introduced the participants to the problems that Haefele is facing every now and then. Especially the fitting of the furniture is an everyday challenge but still solvable with a good amount of creativity and know-how. The organizers took even the time to say “thank you” by e-card. We in GPCCI would like to stress that it is actually on our part now to announce a big “Thank you Haefele, thank you participants!”

August 29  Delegation of the German Bundestag visits GPCCI
Ralph Timmermann, Deputy Head of Mission of the German Embassy, invited Dagmar Wöhrl, Chairlady of the Committee of Economic Cooperation, and GPCCI representatives for a breakfast meeting in Manila Hotel. The GPCCI representatives, Reiner Allgeier, Bernhard Krüger-Sprengel, Dr. Bodo Goerlich, Holger Manzke, Thorsten Franz and Silke Klausen informed Ms. Wöhrl about the work of GPCCI as well as the work of their respective companies.
Ms. Wöhrl was accompanied by four other Members of Parliament (Sabine Weiss, Helga Daub, Jürgen Klimke and Uwe Kekeritz) and by Dr. Ferdinand Bitz of the Administration of the German Bundestag. She committed herself to give a positive statement about GPCCI in Berlin in order to foster the acknowledgment as a German Chamber of Foreign Trade. This announcement was recently embodied in a letter of recommendation to Dr. Wansleben, the Managing Director of the DIHK.

August 18  Economic Forum with Garry Kingshott
Garry Kingshott’s presentation enjoyed great popularity. The CEO Adviser of Cebu Pacific Airlines was able to explain to the highly interested audience the necessity of “Aviation Liberalization” and how it can be approached. According to Mr. Kingshott, the demand of flights is far bigger than what can be offered, mostly due to traffic right restrictions. By constraining the capacity, the market is not as competitive as it could be. This, of course, is reflected in higher prices. More flights would also mean more jobs, not only for pilots and stewards but also for technicians and engineers. More flights could be facilitated by very simple things such as installing lights at certain airports, so night flights could be allowed. The bigger challenge will, of course, be to allow air traffic to and from more foreign countries, which is in the hands of the legislature.

August 5  German Delegation of the Federal Foreign Office visits GPCCI
GPCCI was delighted to welcome Dr. Werner Hoyer, the Minister of State of the Federal Foreign Office of Germany, in the Philippines and to invite him for lunch in the German Club Manila. Four GPCCI board members – Reiner Allgeier, Bernhard Krüger-Sprengel, Roland Odenthal and Dr. Bodo Goerlich –, and Silke Klausen of Thyssen Krupp met him there together with his personal assistant Dr. Mirko Becker and the Head of Division for South East Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Pacific and EU-relationships to these countries, Martin Kremer. German Ambassador Christian-Ludwig Weber-Lortsch and the Embassy’s Deputy Head of Mission, Ralph Timmermann accompanied the group and introduced the delegation to the GPCCI representatives. Mr. Allgeier, President of GPCCI, informed Mr. Hoyer about the projects and targets of the Chamber. He emphasized also that more and bigger projects could be realized by GPCCI for the good of German companies in the Philippines and German-Filipino business relationships in general if GPCCI was acknowledged as a AHK (Aussenhandelskammer) – German Chamber of Foreign Trade by the DIHK, which is the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce.
The Board of Directors of GPCCI has been espousing for the acknowledgment in order to enable the Chamber to facilitate bigger projects for the good of its members.

July 21  Economic Forum with Jonathan Ravelas
Everyone knows what happens to the gold price in times of crisis – certainly, this was not the reason to join in for the guests of the Economic Forum in July with one of GPCCI’s long-time speakers, Jonathan Ravelas. A total of 50 GPCCI members, German Club members and invitees of the German Embassy followed the invitation to listen to Jonathan Ravelas, Chief Market Strategist of BDO, when he was talking about “Building blocks for the future”. He had a lot of interesting facts, figures and stories to tell about the current economic situation. Although economies in Asia show the best figures among all economies, recovery is not growing as fast as expected and is still in an uncertain situation. As usual, Mr. Ravelas gave a wide outlook on what to expect from the economy and what the Philippines can do to stay in good shape: Investing in infrastructure! After his economic outlook, the floor was opened for a Question & Answer session which was welcomed by the guests as they made use of discussing particular topics and bringing up their concerns with Mr. Ravelas.

July 7 Economic Forum in Cebu with Amb. Delia D Albert
For the 3rd time, GPCCI assembled the German companies in Cebu and invited them to the Radisson Blu Hotel in Cebu City for an Economic Forum with its Honorary Member, Delia D Albert. Madame Ambassador delighted the attendees with her experiences during her assignment in Germany and the many connections between the Philippines and Germany. She also highlighted Cebu’s important role in the German-Philippines relationship and the growing export markets. The attendees agreed with Delia D Albert’s remark that foreign investors have a perception that the government is inconsistent with its policies, citing incidents involving the Tampakan mining deal and Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, which have been tangled in litigation and delays.

June 23 Economic Forum with Garry Kingshott
The German business community was very excited to hear Mr. Garry Kingshott’s (CEO Adviser of Cebu Pacific Airlines) opinion on “Aviation Liberalization”. More than 70 interested attendees registered in advance. Due to heavy rains on that day, only few members were able to get to German Club. The Economic Forum was, therefore, cancelled. Fortunately, Mr. Kingshott offered to have another go on August 18. – Save the date!

June 7 Company Visit at Linde Philippines, Inc.
On a very sunny day in June, about 25 GPCCI members made their way to Laguna to learn more about gas plants its operations of Linde Philippines. Linde Philippines is a member of The Linde Group, a world leading gases and engineering company. Linde Philippines manufactures and distributes industrial, special and medical gases, and provides a range of related services including the installation of gas equipment, pipelines and associated engineering services. After a warm welcome by the Linde Philippines Team and an introductory presentation by Mr. Alexander Coo, Strategic Marketing Director, the participants were geared with safety equipment – from safety shoes to special glasses and an umbrella to protect from the strong Philippine sunlight. The participants explored the plant in guided groups of five. The highly motivated staff of Linde explained each industry process to the participants through informative presentations.. The tour ended with a mouthwatering buffet that offered an excellent networking opportunity to the participants and executives of Linde Philippines.

June 1-3  German Pavilion + MdB Hans-Josef Fell at PV Summit
The 1st Philippine Photovoltaic Summit took place last June 1-3, 2011 in SMX. GPCCI organized a German Pavilion with the following 6 German exhibitors:

1)      Conergy Singapore
2)      Schletter Systeme GmbH
3)      RefuSol GmbH
4)      Matec/Syntegra
5)      ABS Schwabe
6)      “renewables – Made in Germany

All participating companies were positively surprised about the general appearance of the show; they appreciated the professional organization. Key players of the Solar Industry were all present with a booth and the appearance of the German Pavilion was considered as an important and remarkable positioning by all 6 exhibitors. In a survey made after PV SUMMIT, the following statements were made by the companies:

“We were indeed able to get over 800 potential contacts and 200 projects, starting small up to 50MW installations.” Stefan Schwabe, ABS Schwabe

„Being recognized as a German company and taking advantage of Germany’s global reputation for engineering leadership is important.” Michelle Gozum, Conergy

Following an invitation of GIZ (Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit) that was initiated by PSPA and GPCCI, Hans-Josef Fell, MdB (Member of the Parliament and Energy Spokesperson of the Green Party) opened the convention of the PV Summit with his keynote address „Vision on energy security, Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) and the economics of solar energy, evolution of the Renewable Energy in Germany”. As the Philippines is at a crucial stage of decision making on Feed-In-Tariffs, Mr. Fell´s insights on the development of solar markets were well received. Participants from politics, government agencies and business were supportive of the lobbying efforts of the Philippine solar industry.

Later during the convention day, Mr. Fell was invited to visit the German Pavilion, foremost the booth of the “renewables – Made in Germany”-initiative. GIZ and GPCCI have arranged a meeting with the Philippine counterparts in energy policy, respectively Department of Energy Undersecretary Jose Layug Jr., National Renewable Energy Board Chairman Pete Maniego and Mario Marasigan, Director of the Renewable Energy Management Bureau.

Despite a hectic schedule due to a Congressional hearing, the three renewable energy supporters visited the German Pavilion and were eager to meet MdB Hans-Josef Fell. The short but intensive meet-up will hopefully be followed by an extensive exchange of information and ideas. As a recommendation by Mr. Fell, the Philippine counterparts were  encouraged to team up and learn from their neighboring countries, e.g. Malaysia.

May 26 Economic Forum with Undersecretary Cristino L. Panlilio
“Invest in the Philippines, Invest in Growth” – When GPCCI sent out the invitation to join the Economic Forum with Undersecretary L. Panlilio, Vice Chairman and CEO of Board of Investment, we noticed a big interest in the German business community to discuss about investing in the Philippines. Just recently, the result of a court trial had been published saying that the investors at NAIA will get back only a small amount of the money that they had spent for the new NAIA project over months, which was then cancelled by the government. The Philippine economy is expected to grow further by at least 5 % in 2011. How can foreign investors make sure that they invest in their own company’s growth at the same time? Mr. Panlilio pointed out bilateral agreements between Germany and the Philippines as well as tax incentives that help foreign investors to succeed in the Philippines. He promoted the proposed Investment Priorities Plan 2011, and the Public Private Partnerships, in particular, that aims to enhance further investments. His presentation led to a lively discussion about laws and their implementation.

April 13 Economic Forum with Ernest Cu of Globe Telecom
The President & CEO of Globe Telecom followed the invitation of GPCCI to its Economic Forum in German Club. Many members joined the meetings as everyone was interested in Mr. Cu’s words about the Changing Face of Philippine Mobile Telecommunications. After a short introduction about the evolution of Mobile Telecommunication, Mr. Cu explained how Globe responds to this changing face of the market. Due to the increasing number of smart phones, the company is urged to modernize its networks and strengthen IT platforms to support better products and efficient cost structures. After his speech, Mr. Cu was answering questions and concerns of the attendees – mostly concerns about the services of Globe Telecom.