Philippine Business Magazine: Volume 8 No. 4 - Partners
French Connection
Philippines-France relations to get a boost from November mission
By Maricar T.Manuzon

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Ferrari, the Man

There are at least three important pieces of evidence of the French economic presence in the Philippines. Firstly, there is a French airline (Air France) that services the significant movement of travellers between the two countries. Secondly, there are four French offshore banks (BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole Indosuez, Societe Generale, and Credit Lyonnais) fulfilling the banking requirements mainly of French businessmen and executives in the country. And, thirdly, there is a French business organization (Le Club) comprised of 141 French and French-speaking members representing major French business concerns in the Philippines.

Fact is, France is one of the Philippines’ important trading partners. Philippine exports to France averaged over US$200 million in the last six years. The exports are composed mainly of electronics, garments, forest products, furniture, and houseware. The biggest single export item to France is electronics which include semiconductors and other components, electronic data processing, and communication and radar.

For the same period, Philippine imports from France ranged from a low of about US$300 million to a high of roughly US$800 million mainly comprised of electronics, chemicals, pharmaceutical products, transport equipment, and processed foods.
According to Le Club President, Roger Ferrari, the major French investments in the country are in cement (La Farge), water utility services (joint venture with the Lopez Group), and pharmaceutical, (Sanofi, Aventis etc.) sectors. In the past, investments were mainly in pharmaceutical distribution. According to records of the country’s major investment agencies, France’s total approved direct investments into the Philippines reached its peak of P526 million in 1999.

Trade and Investment Missions
Trade and investment missions are crucial in improving trade and investment relations among countries, and this is no less true between France and the Philippines. According to Ferrari, a trade and investment mission to France will, for one thing, give the Filipino businessmen an opportunity to see for themselves the trends in the construction sector in France and have a better appreciation of construction technology in Europe. He observes that the Philippine construction technology is very much influenced by the Americans when “many things in Europe are in fact better than those found in America.”

Moreover, the mission will be an excellent venue for the Philippine government and the business community to change the negative perception of the French about the Philippines. This is especially important in attracting tourists into the country.

Evidently, one area where the Philippines can benefit from its partnership with the French is in the area of tourism. He stated matter-of-factly that the country has fantastic beaches and other travel destinations here.

Mission to France
Realizing the significance of trade and investment missions in furthering ties between the two countries, Le Club, serving also as the French Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines, is helping out in the preparation of a business mission to Paris in mid-November this year.

The mission is being organized by the Philippines-France Business Council (PFBC), chaired by SGV Chairman Cesar Purisima. The counterpart in France is MEDEF International/France-Philippines Business Council. Other groups pitching in for the success of the mission are the Makati Business Club (PFBC Secretariat) and the French Embassy. The objective of the business mission is to bring together Philippine and French businessmen for purposes of investment, trade and joint venture undertakings.

During the mission, opportunities in the following Philippine sectors will be highlighted: agriculture, power, tourism, ICT, furniture, and construction/infrastructure. Local companies in these sectors will find participation in the mission useful in expanding their markets. Moreover, local companies can learn a lot from their French counterparts about new ways of doing business.

Ferrari believes that one of the factors that make the Philippines a good investment site is the country’s intelligent populace. He points out that there are countries like Africa which is rich in natural resources but are not progressive at all because the people are not educated, unlike in the Philippine case.

On the whole, Ferrari and other French businessmen in the country express confidence in the new administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, whose assumption to office “gives the country hope.” This is because the President is an economist and they find her smart and intelligent.

Roger Ferrari heads the French Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines, proof of the French’s strong interest in the country Ferrari, the Man At the helm of Le Club – the French Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines — is Roger Ferrari. This 55-year old mechanical engineer is Swiss (not French) but works as consultant to French-owned firm, Alstom Phils., mainly for the company’s rail transport projects here in the country. On concurrent capacity, since 1987, Ferrari also has served as representative to both Aeroports de Paris and BNP Paribas in the Philippines. When Philippine Business visited Ferrari in his office, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that he is one foreigner who turns out to be very Filipino, except for the Caucasian look. He even punctuates his English sentences with local expressions like “di ba?” and is conversant with the local language. He is, after all, happily married to a Filipina with whom he has three beautiful mestizo (Swiss-Filipino) children. He found it hard to talk about his good or bad experiences as a foreigner in this country as he considers himself “practically Filipino.” Ferrari’s romance with the Philippines started in December 1969 when he came for a vacation. He was supposed to stay for two weeks but this stretched into 31 years and counting. During his first vacation, he met the French owner of Palawan-based Ocean Farms Phils. who offered him the job of managing his farm — even when he knew that Ferrari is a mechanical engineer by profession. Ferrari accepted the offer and from then on Philippine jobs would find him.