WASHINGTON – Amid the ongoing trade war between the US and China, American courier delivery services firm, FedEx will return to the Philippines, 10 years after closing its Philippine site and relocating its Asian hub to the Chinese city of Guangzhou in 2009.
Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez said the operations of FedEx in the country will be at a “bigger scale” with the first phase happening in Clark, Pampanga starting in the second quarter of 2020, while the long-term and bigger site will be completed in 2024. FedEx’s previous site was in Subic Bay, Olongapo.
“That is a big win for us,” Romuldez told Filipino journalists on Monday (Tuesday in Manila). “They are moving out of China. I assume it has something to do with the trade war or it is part of their strategy that they see that the Philippines is the center in Asia.”
Romualdez said he hopes FedEx’s relocation “would be the magnet that will make other companies start looking at the Philippines.”
“Geographically, we are the best place to be located at,” he said.
Other American companies, Romualdez said, will increase their presence in the Philippines as the US- China trade war continues.
When asked if the Philippines has benefitted from the trade fallout from the two global economic powerhouses, Romualdez said at least two other major American firms, Cargill, an animal nutrition supplier, and consumer firm Procter & Gamble will expand their operations in the country.
However, he said, more foreign companies would move to the Philippines if it will relax restrictions on foreign ownership like Vietnam, which has benefitted largely from the trade war with many businesses relocating there in recent times.
Vietnam, he said, has been offering better incentives to foreign businesses.
“The biggest obstacle are the economic barriers that we have. These should be seriously looked into. It is the ownership issue they cannot own more than 40 percent,” Romualdez said.
China and the US are locked in a bitter trade battle with President Donald Trump accusing Beijing of unfair trading practices.
Washington imposed tariffs on billions of dollars worth of Chinese products in 2018, a move that angered China, which retaliated.
