Bank of China set to start Philippine operation

CEBU, Philippines - Top executives from the Bank Of China met with Cebuano businessmen yesterday to kick start their penetration in Philippine market.

BOC, the largest internationalized bank in China, invited businessmen in Cebu — the members of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) and Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI)  — to announce its Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Cross-Border Trade and Investmeny Conference to be held in Manila next year in March.

Yang Qing, BOC deputy general manager for global markets department, said that aside from accessing the US$3 billion credit facility for SMEs, the bank also assured to serve as bridge for small and medium businesses here to international market.

The meeting with Cebu businessmen yesterday at Crimson Resort and Spa in Mactan was the first leg of a series of meetings planned by the Chinese delegation in the country. A similar event is held today at the Fairmont Hotel in Makati.

The BOC Global SME Cross-border Matchmaking Service promotes the interconnection between SMEs worldwide, helps them share the global value chain  and stimulates the vitality and globalization of SMEs.

According to Wang Jian, BOC general manager for global market departments, the trade and investment conference will serve as matchmaking service that overturns traditional mode for inviting investment and adopts an innovative mode of “one-to-one” or “one-to-more” negotiation and connection.

It includes "six-step” process, including establishing a database for enterprises, customer matching, remote online matchmaking, one-to-one meeting, onsite survey and all-round banking service.

Wang said this move broke through the traditional investment attraction mode that removes many kinds of obstacles that enterprises may encounter in their cross-border business process.

Through complementation and transformation between market resources in developing countries and technical advantages in developed countries, the service could achieve the goal advocated in APEC Leaders’ Declaration which states that “all enterprises, big or small, should be able to access business opportunities existing everywhere.”

The BOC's much stronger stance to reach with Filipino SMEs is an immediate result of the recently concluded historical visit to China, which was also attended by the bank's chairman.   

BOC is closely working with chambers of commerce and industry organizations through the International Chamber Chamber of Commerce (Phils.), Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI), and Department of Trade and Industry.

"This is a great opportunity for our local SMEs to have global matchmaking access and avail of business linkages in China," said CCCI president Melanie Ng.

Ng said BOC reaching out to Philippine SMEs, including businesses in Cebu provides great impetus for more trade opportunities and encourage growth of SMEs who will avail of the cross border matchmaking service being offered by Bank of China.

"This roadshow is aligned with the plans of CCCI to establish more linkage and create more opportunities for our members and SMEs in Cebu. We have already started with my joining the Presidential State Visit to Beijing last October, followed by our initial meeting with the PROC Consul General Shi Yong and his Economic team two weeks ago and this event today," added Ng.

Ng committed that CCCI is very much keen to help identify and provide opportunities for its members and Cebu SMEs for possible business linkages with  counterparts from China through the office of Cebu PROC Consul General Shi Yong and now Bank of China.

Likewise, Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) president Glenn Soco sees tremendous growth of Chinese investments to the Philippines, as well as wider access of Filipino SMEs not only to China but to markets where BOC is present.

BOC, the world's fifth largest bank in terms of total assets, maintains 630 offices in 40 countries.

"This initiative will not only bring in capital investments and loans to spur growth of MSMEs but will also open new and wider markets for MSME products especially to China," Soco said.

The next step according to Soco is to prepare for the 2017 Cross-border Trade and Investment Conference together with PCCI and Bank of China Manila.

"MCCI will play an active role especially in match making and participant generation," Soco said.

Economic Cooperation and Development record shows that SMEs comprise 99.6 percent of all registered businesses and employ 70 percent of the work force.

Aside from market access, one of the top challenges faces by the SMEs in the Philippines is the access to finance.

With BOC, DTI expects to have a mutual understanding of innovative methods that will make financial assistance and money more accessible, particularly to MSMEs, said DTI trade services officer John Paul Yñigo. (FREEMAN)