MANILA -- Logistics company DP World on Wednesday committed to expanding its operations in the Philippines and eyes to set up an industrial park in Clarkfield in Pampanga, following a meeting with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Switzerland.

“We are committed to investing in the Philippines; we’re committed to expand,” Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and CEO, told the President. “So we’re interested in the Philippines, in industrial parks.” 

According to the official, the Dubai-based logistics company has been developing industrial parks in multiple nations and has successful ventures in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

The company also develops industrial parks in Senegal, Egypt, India as well as in Pakistan and a Philippine expansion is a welcome development.

With 90 percent of the transportation coming by the sea in the Philippines, the official said DP World can add value to the supply chain, with sea transportation being the cheapest means of moving cargo.

The President told DP World that the government has to decide on possible sites in terms of operations, planning and ideal location to spur local development.

“And if it’s viable and those areas are actually useful for your operation then that would be something that we can immediately develop,” Marcos said, adding his government is more amenable to public-private partnerships (PPPs) for infrastructure development.

According to President Marcos, he has been meeting business leaders while in Switzerland to know their views on what more the government can do in terms of policy, legislation and rules to make the country more conducive for business.

“We always come up against the issues of the ease of doing business. These are things that we are already slowly improving. And I say slow because it’s never fast enough but at least I think we can already see some progress on that,” the chief executive said.

Starting its operations in 1972 as a local port operator in Dubai, DP World has transformed into a global logistics provider in over 69 countries and across every continent.  

To date, it now moves 10 percent of the global trade through a seamless, interconnected global network of ports and terminals, economic and free zones, logistics hubs and marine services. (PND)