AYALA LAND, Inc. (ALI) is riding on the influx of Chinese firms
coming to the Philippines as it plans to acquire up to 200 hectares of
land in Central Luzon for the development of the first Sino-Philippine
industrial park in the country.
ALI President and Chief Executive Officer Bernard Vincent O. Dy said
they are in advanced talks with several land owners for the land
acquisition, while also speaking with Chinese manufacturing firms to
locate in their industrial parks.
“We’re now starting to look, fairly close, in securing a much larger
parcel to be able to do, as our chairman mentioned, the first
Sino-Philippine joint venture for an industrial park to be able to
attract more Chinese locators into the Philippines,” Mr. Dy said in a
press briefing organized by its parent Ayala Corp. (AC) in Makati last
Friday.
Prior to this industrial park venture, the listed property developer
has already been working with one of China’s largest tile manufacturers
to locate in one of its existing estates.
Mr. Dy said the Chinese firm has taken up 1.7 hectares in its Alviera
Industrial Park in Porac, Pampanga. The estate is recognized as a
special economic zone by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority.
“The initial manufacturing plant is now under way, it is
going to be in the industrial park in Porac. In about a few months, they
should start manufacturing high-end engineered stone in Pampanga, both
for domestic consumption as well as for export,” Mr. Dy explained.
AC Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala
noted how the conglomerate also pioneered the development of the first
industrial park in the country in partnership with Japanese firm
Mitsubishi Corp. in Laguna.
He added that several Ayala units have been partnering with Chinese firms in previous years.
“If you look at the way the Ayala group has engaged with China, it
is, I think, probably among the largest in the country,” Mr. Zobel said
in the same media briefing.
Mr. Zobel cited Globe Telecom, Inc.’s decade-long partnership with
telco giant Huawei, which he said significantly contributed to their
telco business’ success.
“Part of the success, I’d like to think, that we have had in the
telecommunications business is driven by the relationship we had with
Huawei and what they enabled us to do from a competitive point of view.”
Mr. Zobel also said AC Energy, Inc. has used Chinese technology in
the rollout of infrastructure in the energy generating space, while AC
Industrial Technology Holdings, Inc. has a number of operating
facilities in China.
AC reported a net income of P31.8 billion in 2018, five percent
higher year on year, after consolidated revenues also grew by 13% to
P274.88 billion.
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