P&G open to fresh investments in Philippines

MANILA, Philippines - Consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble (P&G) remains open to new investments in the Philippines given the company’s continued bullish outlook on the country.

P&G Philippines general manager Shankar Viswanathan said yesterday the company is currently exploring “what else it needs to do and how it can expand its footprint in the country.”

“We’ve been in Philippines for 82 years and we’re very proud to be here. This is the best time to be in the Philippines,” he said.

“We continue to invest in this country. (The Philippines is) a very attractive market in terms of the growth potential both in terms of demographics and in terms of GDP growth. Obviously the promise in demographic and economic potential is phenomenal. So we continue to make investments and continue to expand our capabilities here,” he added.

P&G had spent P5.2 billion to expand its manufacturing and distribution operations in the country. The company has a production facility in Cabuyao, Laguna which manufactures most of P&G products sold locally.

“A challenge here that is similar to what we see around the world is competitiveness. Markets are competitive. You need to continue to watch out for new players in the market,” Viswanathan said.

“There are challenges, which the government is working on, on infrastructure and I think there is a lot of commitment in this administration to go after it. To be honest, when I came here one of the challenges is port congestion and those things have really gone away. That gives me hope and confidence that things will get better,” he added.

P&G, meanwhile, expressed optimism on the government’s move to increase support for the development of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Viswanathan said an average of 40 to 45 percent of P&G sales in the Philippines come from “sari-sari” store owners.

P&G last February inked an agreement with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to pilot a micro-entrepreneur development program that will equip sari-sari store owners with fundamental entrepreneurial knowledge and business seed capital.

Called “Angat Kita,” the pilot program was launched in Mandaluyong City yesterday, with other pilot launches set in the cities of Makati, Manila and Quezon in the next few months.

“P&G believes that fostering MSME development is prerequisite in achieving and sustaining broad-based socio-economic growth. Hopefully, in the succeeding months, we will be able to roll out in four other cites, touching a total of 1,000 micro-entrepreneurs,” Viswanathan said.