Shipbuilding holds potential to employ 100,000 — ambassador

By Justine Irish D. Tabile, Reporter

LARGE-SCALE shipbuilding in the Philippines has the potential to create 100,000 skilled jobs, Danish Ambassador to the Philippines Franz-Michael Skjold Mellbin said.

“We have this great shipbuilding initiative, which is aimed at bringing large-scale shipbuilding back to the Philippines,” Mr. Mellbin told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar on Wednesday.

“We’re very excited about that. We believe we can create maybe up to 100,000 jobs in the Philippines through shipbuilding. This is the most important initiative we have. And it will also bring new kinds of technology to the Philippines,” he added.

He said the Philippines remains an attractive destination for shipbuilding due to its skilled labor and geographical location, serving as an alternative to shipbuilding in China.

“We actually have several Danish companies that are here either to demonstrate their skills, to share their technology, or actually to cooperate with Filipino companies on building ships here in the Philippines,” he said.

“On the naval side, we have a shipbuilding company looking at the possibility of building ships together with our Filipino partners,” he added.

However, he said the country needs to take more steps to attract more investment.

“I think it’s absolutely essential that on the regulatory side, the government improves the opportunities for doing business here. But there’s a lot of work to do,” he said.

“There are many steps on the way… but what we are happy about is that the government agencies have come together,” he added.

He said corruption is a concern for Danish investors.

“Denmark is the least corrupt country in the world, and the first thing that investors ask me about is good governance and corruption. Unfortunately, there are challenges here in the Philippines, which are well known,” he said.

“I’m happy to see that the president and the government have said that they’re going to take specific steps to try to improve the situation. This is necessary. Good governance and anti-corruption measures would help improve doing business in the Philippines a lot,” he added.

Government agencies are banking on the passage of the Shipbuilding and Ship Repair (SBSR) Development bill to drive investment in the industry amid increasing interest from Europe.

“Yes, this is really very important. In fact, this is being stressed also by our President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.,” Transportation Assistant Secretary for Maritime Villamor Ventura S. Plan said.

“Nakikita niya ’yung importansya ng maritime industry natin dito. Ang daming mga effects nito sa ating economy kasi (He sees the importance of the maritime industry, which will have substantial impact on the economy),” he added.

He said versions of the bill were filed at the House of Representatives. No similar bill has been filed with the Senate.

“We also have the commitments of several ambassadors from the European Union who will try to visit our legislators to push for this … (For our part) we will be submitting an endorsement letter also,” he added.

Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) Secretary Ernesto V. Perez said the agency is strongly advocating for the passage of the SBSR bill.

“ARTA strongly advocates for the passage of the SBSR Development Act,” he said.

He said incentives will likely adhere to the framework of the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy (CREATE MORE) Act, with investors also qualified for the Green Lane for Strategic Investments.

“Without the passage of this bill, we can still move forward because there are enough incentives … These are all in place for availment by our industries,” he added.

MARINA Administrator Sonia B. Malaluan said four versions of the bill were filed with the House of Representatives.

“I hope after all the flood control investigations and the budget hearings, the committee will start deliberating on bills filed,” she said.

“There should be a good, consolidated version once the committee starts work. We still need more awareness and information dissemination for people to recognize how shipbuilding in the Philippines is very important and es-sential to our economy and nation building,” she added.