Norwegian firms eye RP as next investment site in the region

REPORT FROM BUSINESSWORLD NORWEGIAN FIRMS on Wednesday expressed interest in investing in the country, citing Filipinos’ competence in skill-based fields of health care, manufacturing, and human resources. On the sidelines of a Norwegian investors forum Wednesday, global telecommunications giant Telenor said the company was considering the Philippines as its next investment site in Asia. Telenor already has a strong presence in Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore. "The Philippines is an interesting market. It’s one of the countries we are looking at, along with Vietnam and Indonesia. The Philippines could be a future [investment site]," Telenor business development Director Einar Bore told reporters. Telenor has investments in Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Montenegro, Serbia, Ukraine and Russia. It also has businesses in Bangladesh and Pakistan. Mr. Bore said Telenor has invested a total of $1 billion to date for a new mobile communications network in Pakistan where the company corners 18% of the market. He said Telenor, which operates in 60 markets worldwide, has been in Asia for 10 years. It has a total of 135 million subscribers across the globe, making it the sixth largest mobile operator in the world, next to China Mobile, Vodafone, Singtel, China Unicom, and Telefonica. Mr. Bore said about 50 million of its subscribers are from Asia while less than 5%, or about six million are from the Nordic region. "Our focus has shifted to new and emerging markets," he said. Norwegian Ambassador to Manila Stale Torstein Risa said Telenor was seriously looking for particularly possible partners in the country. "The market is right for a strong, innovative player in the telecommunications sector. I think the future is bright for the entry of another major player in the market. We remain optimistic about prospects and we are sure Telenor will continue with its due diligence," he said. Meanwhile, Delta Philippines Corp. Chief Executive Nils-Ottar L_n_y said his company would invest over P100 million into its Subic Bay operations over the next three years. Delta is a scaffolding manufacturer that earlier committed to invest $156,000 in the country for the trading of aluminium scaffolding and other related products. It also rents out machinery for ship repair and fire alarm systems. About 300 tons of scaffolding are currently being produced in Subic and shipped to the Scandinavian region. Mr. L_n_y wants to triple this to 12 containers shipped out a week from four to five currently. Each container holds about five tons of scaffolding. "We consume about 1,000 tons of aluminium in Norway, so we are fairly one of the largest suppliers there. But we still want to grow our business," he said, extolling his Filipino workers’ "good work ethics." Delta will increase its site area to 8,000 square meters from 1,500 square meters. "So you see we’re going to be there for a long time, Mr. L_n_y said. Mr. L_n_y said he also invited two other Norwegian companies to Subic — NorthShore Technologies Corp. and Karismar Marine Services Asia Corp. "It’s hard to find good engineers, you either go to Singapore or Europe, but in the Philippines it’s been easy," he said. Delta currently employs 100 engineers. He added that Subic is a good place to invest because of good facilities, including large highways and an international airport. "We believe in the potential of Subic Bay. Already it’s a premier export zone." Fellow Norwegian businessman Dagfinn R. Moe, president of Norconsult Management Services Philippines, Inc., also emphasized the skill of the work force as a selling point for the Philippines. "You have a big work force here, and a good school system that graduates good people," he said. Norconsult, he said, is in talks with the Department of Interior and Local Government for a $6-million project in Mindanao. "It’s a large development, urban infrastructure project where we are supposed to train the people there how to make good business models," he explained. So far, his Filipino personnel have performed as well as he expected, he said. Aboitiz Jebsen Managing Director Ole B. Stene, for his part, said that competence was a major consideration for the company’s decision to venture into "land-based" recruitment. Aboitiz Jebsen is a joint venture between European and local shipping giants, and its expertise is in providing skilled crews and managers to international shipping companies. At present it has a pool of 7,000 trained Filipino seafarers. Started in 1994, it offered land-based recruitment services to other companies, such as nurses for hospitals, programmers for information technology firms and service personnel for hotels. "The greatest driver of Aboitiz Jebsen’s continued success is human capital," said Mr. Stene, adding that the company would have shipped between 200,000-300,000 this year alone by the end of December. Norway already is a strong player in the local energy and shipping industries. Norwegian-Filipino joint venture SN Aboitiz Power last month acquired the 175-megawatt (MW) Ambuklao-Binga hydroelectric complex for $325 million. The company last year won the bid for the 360-MW Magat hydroelectric plant. These represent Norway’s largest investment in the Philippines. — Bernardette S. Sto. Domingo and Maria Kristina C. Conti/BusinessWorld