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The Philippines is known for at least two things: typhoons that regularly batter it and call centers that employ thousands of its fluent English speakers.
It's certainly a good market to add to your Southeast Asian bucket list. The biggest selling points are the large and growing population of 20 something’s out of a total population of 95 million, their interest in consuming the latest U.S. Made products, and their positive feelings toward America and Americans. In fact, a recent survey revealed that by one percentage point Filipinos had a more favorable opinion of the U.S. than its own citizens (85 percent versus 84 percent). That is a better number than you’d find in most places in the world.
One reason might be that there are four million Filipinos living in the U.S., mainly on the west coast and in Hawaii. Visiting family and friends and paying to do so adds to the U.S. balance of trade, which overall is in favor of the Philippines by a wide margin, but narrowed a bit when the country imported building materials to repair damage from a mega typhoon.
The Filipino diaspora is large, and members each year send home about $23 billion, one-tenth of total GDP. Hong Kong and Kuwait would be in big trouble without large numbers of Filipinos to tend to the children of affluent parents and to staff the service sector. On fine weather Sundays on Victoria Island, thousands of Filipino nannies picnic on the island’s elevated pedestrian bridges, eating comfort foods like lumpia.
On the growing list of positives, the government has been stable and is devotedly democratic. Impressive strides have been made in various ease of doing business indexes such as corruption control, business startups, and improvements in education.
In need of improvement are corruption--it doggedly persists--IP protection, the bureaucracy, and the court system (it moves with glacial speed). There is also a large and growing disparity between rich and poor which must be addressed sooner or later.
The country suffers from some of the world's highest energy costs, and it's not from all of those call centers taxing the power grid. You readers that have alternative energy solutions will be warmly welcomed in Manila, the super charged capital.
Flush with Opportunity
One U.S. company among many there found success selling waterless urinals which save rivers of fresh water. An American fast food franchiser was the first to install them, and the second was the owner of a hotel chain that saw money savings when he used the restroom in the fast food restaurant.
Yes, you guessed it. Franchising is a hot sector in Manila and other big cities. The 400,000 Americans living in the country will be among your first customers.
Medical tourism and strong growth in the domestic health sector has crested strong opportunities for medical devices and health care products. Companies that design and outfit hospitals and clinics will find opportunities. Since the country receives aid for some of these projects from the Asia development Bank, which is headquartered in Manila, it's advisable to monitor the ABD website for fresh tender opportunities.
There is limitation on foreign ownership in the country. Unlike Thailand, which has an amity treaty with the U.S. allowing for 100 percent U.S. ownership, the Philippines limits foreign investment to 40 percent.
Otherwise, duties and taxes are relatively low, posing no obstacles to local importers, who are best found among the ranks of agents and distributors. You can find them by checking with the American Chamber of Commerce, one of the world's biggest and, perhaps more reliably, through the U.S. Embassy. Led by Jim McCarthy, the senior commercial officer, they can find the best buyer for you or vet the ones you find on your own.
| Product Model | Inside Diameter | Outside Diameter | Thickness |
| PWM150165120 bearing | 150 | 165 | 120 |
| PWM140155180 bearing | 140 | 155 | 180 |