New Zealand investors eye direct flights to PHL

New Zealand investors plan to visit the Philippines and promote direct air connectivity between Manila and Wellington while looking at business opportunities in the Southeast Asian nation. Wellington Employers' Chamber of Commerce (WECC) chief executive Ken Harris announced this development in a meeting with Philippine Ambassador Virginia Benavidez last week. "Mr. Harris informed Ambassador Benavidez of his intention to visit the Philippines very soon in order to promote enhanced and direct air connectivity between the Philippines and New Zealand as well as to look into business opportunities in the country," the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement Friday. http://dfa.gov.ph/main/index.php/news-from-rp-embassies/3996-phl-ambassador-meets-with-top-officials-of-wellington-employers-chamber-of-commerce With Harris and Benavidez was WECC director for international policy Jeremy Harding. WECC is the voice of business in Wellington City and has 1,600 member companies and businessmen, noted the Philippine embassy in Wellington, saying it is the biggest business network in Wellington, the third largest city in New Zealand after Auckland and Christchurch. "Many businesses choose to establish a presence in Wellington due to the fact that the city is the capital of New Zealand. Hence the Chamber serves as a very important bridge between the New Zealand Government and the private sector," the embassy said. Business opportunities Benavidez and Minister Marcos Punsalang briefed Harris and Harding on the Philippine economy and opportunities in bilateral trade and investment, including home design products, seafood processing and re-export, information technology/business processing outsourcing (IT/BPO), e-governance, geothermal energy and enhancing air connectivity. According to the embassy, Harris was impressed with the huge strides in the Philippine economy, particularly with the giant Philippine IT/BPO industry as the second largest in the world. The industry generated $9 billion (NZ $11 billion) in revenues, employing 540,000 Filipinos in 2010. It surpassed India as the No. 1 provider of back-office voice services. Harris claimed there are many "brilliant" New Zealand software companies, which could benefit from investing in the Philippine IT/BPO industry, the embassy said. "Based on a list of companies and businessmen to be given by the WECC, the embassy is scheduling business calls with them in the near future," the embassy added. — VS, GMA News