:: The Official Website of Philippine Embassy, Pakistan ::

Access to the latest technology, state-of-the-art facilities and infrastructure, combined with the country's rich pool of skilled and creative manpower, and a unique kind of service enable Philippines as a favourable business destination.

The Philippines is located right in the heart of Asia - today the fastest growing region. Sited at the crossroads of the eastern and western business, the Philippine archipelago of more than 7,000 islands is ideally positioned as the springboard to the rich Chinese mainland, ASEAN market of more than 550 million inhabitants and neighbouring Asian countries such as Japan and South Korea; easily accessible to any major Asian city (Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Seoul, Singapore, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur) within 4 hours by plane, and within 24 hours by ship. Recently cited by A.T. Kearney Inc. as the 6th leading location out of 25 countries for Business Process Outsourcing in its 2004 Offshore Location Attractiveness Index, scoring high for financial
structure and human resource indexes. Now home to global logistics companies such as Federal Express and United Parcel Service serving as their distribution hub for Asia, it is also home to Lufthansa Technik's MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) facility for A330 & A340 series of aircraft.

The Filipino workforce is one of the most compelling advantages the Philippines has over any other Asian country. As the 3rd largest English-speaking country in the world with 94% literacy rate and above 70% fluency in English, the Philippines offers a considerable manpower pool of 34 million workforce producing roughly 400,000 college graduates annually, about 105,000 business-related graduates, 32,000 maths and IT-related graduates, and about 42,000 Engineering and Technology graduates. This places Philippines in rankings as one of the highest for availability in Asia for such high value skills like engineers, middle managers, finance/ accounting personnel, doctors, nurses, and other IT-related professions such as computer programmers/technicians, call centre agents, and animators receiving competitive wage/ salary levels with labour costs (mandatory minimum wage) currently at about 12% of Western Europe and 68% of Eastern European levels. These are important and in high demand for international workplaces such as Business Process Outsourcing, manufacturing, services and other areas.

Basic rights and guarantees for investors include repatriation of investments, remittance of earnings (up to 100% in some cases), access to foreign loans and contracts, freedom from expropriation and non-requisition of investments among

thers. Telecommunications, shipping, oil, banking, insurance, power distribution and retail trade industries have been deregulated including the portfolio/stock investment market. Philippines' innovative and very successful Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) scheme, a form of Public-Private- Partnership or PPP is being emulated in other countries as a model. As minimum investment incentives, Philippines offer the following:

• 4 to 8 years Income Tax Holiday
• Special 5% tax rate after the lapse of ITH (inside economic zones)
• Tax and duty exemption on imported capital equipment (inside economic zones)
• Unrestricted use of consigned equipment
• Additional deduction for labour expense up to a maximum of 150%
• Additional deduction for training expense up to a maximum of 150%
• Exemption from wharfage dues
• Employment of foreign nationals Philippines have about 94 declared export-processing zones all over the country offering these basic incentives.

A well-developed communication, transportation, business and economic infrastructure links the three major islands and distinguishes the Philippine economy. Highly accessible by air, water and cyberspace, liberalization of inter-island shipping and domestic aviation further sparked improved
facilities and services. The container terminals are suited to handle cargo traffic at the highest levels of efficiency.

Communication provides redundant international connectivity 24/7 with fiber optic cable as primary backbone\ network and satellite as backup. Economic reforms emphasize regional growth, converting remote areas into business centres. The landmark BOT legislation allows private investors to build and operate infrastructure, then turn it over to the Philippine government after a set period of time.

As Asian economies integrate within the vast framework of the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA), Philippines is the natural and most strategic location for firms that want access to the large ASEAN market and its vast trade opportunities. The Philippines has enhanced and primed up various areas for investors and offers a dynamic consumer market accustomed to an array of product choices created by a competitive domestic economy.

Among the cheapest in the Asia- Pacific region with prices at 6%- 39% of Western European and
16%-35% of Eastern European office rent levels in August 2004, Metro Manila and other highly urbanized business centres offer broadband-ready class - a prime office space managed by worldleading property management companies such as FPDSavills, JoneLangLasalle, Colliers, CB Richard Ellis, and others. It is already the location of choice for global shared service centres such as Procter & Gamble, Caltex, UPS, Fluor Corporation, JGCYokohama, Maersk Shipping, AIG (American Insurance Group), and SGS to cite a few; and is home to more than 400 registered Regional Headquarters (RHQs) and Regional Operating Headquarters (ROHQs).

Discover the best of sun, sea, sand and style in the tropical setting teeming with the best of western amenities. The Philippines is second home to expatriates who enjoy the company of the warmest people in the region, the country's openness to varied cultures and a decidedly global outlook. You will never be at a loss in finding world-class residential accommodations at rates 20%- 50% of European levels (3- Bedroom apartment), from deluxe and first-class hotels to small luxury apartments, houses, townhouses and condominium units which can be bought, leased or rented at various rates; leisure and recreational facilities (topnotch golf-courses, beach resorts, theatres, cinemas, restaurants, historical sites & churches, museums, and a variety of interesting locally packaged travel tours); internationally-recognized educational institutions for foreigners such as International School Manila, Brent International School – Manila- Subic-Baguio, British School Manila, Deutsche Schule Manila, Ecole Francaise de Manille, Manila Japanese School, Cebu International School, Mahatma Gandhi International School, etc.

Filipinos are well known for their openly warm and hospitable nature scoring high in independent surveys as the best Asian country for expatriate living especially for cultural compatibility and ease in communication.