Pheu Thai adds more allies to coalition to form government

By Patpicha Tanakasempipat

PHEU T HAI, a party backed by former premier Thaksin Shinawatra’s family, has added six more partners in a coalition it’s steering to form a government and end a political stalemate following the May general election.

The new groups added 16 more lawmakers to the alliance in the elected lower house, Pheu Thai leader Cholnan Srikaew said on Wednesday. More parties may pledge support to the bloc in the coming days, he said. The alliance’s support in the 500-member House of Representatives now stands at 228.

Earlier this week, Pheu Thai joined hands with conservative Bhumjaithai Party, which finished third in the May 14 election. Most of the new joiners were previously part of a pro-democracy coalition formed by reformist Move Forward Party, which was disbanded after Pheu Thai’s departure last week.

The news of Pheu Thai making progress in broadening its support may help ease the uncertainty around Thailand’s government formation, which has kept the nation on

THE fruits of the travel tree are bountiful and this is clearly manifested in the number of foreign investors coming to the country, and the amount of dollars they bring. Add the number of Filipinos they employ and the potential labor to be hired by the new and expanding business ventures located at our economic zones under the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), and you can say you have a bonanza.

Investor confidence in the first half of the year looks so real as it soars under President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s initial 12 months in office. Director General Tereso Panga of PEZA, during our discussion, proudly told me that in the recent Japan trip of the President, he lauded the Japanese businessmen for their consistent interest in the Philippines. PBBM even proclaimed that “you (Japan) have played a major role in the Philippines,” adding that “when you think growth, think Philippines…. so that together, we will reap the benefits of robust, sustainable, and inclusive growth for our businesses and for our peoples.”

On track to achieving its conservative 10 percent investment target growth for 2023, PEZA constantly strengthens economic ties with Japan, its top country investor, as it seeks to attract more foreign investments in the country. This is in line with fulfilling the number one goal of the Marcos administration’s 8-point socioeconomic agenda. This comes as DTI and PEZA concluded a strategic outbound mission to Japan on July 16-22, 2023, co-organized with the Aboitiz InfraCapital (AIC) Economic Estates and the Philippine Trade & Invest-

PEZA received interest both from Japanese big-ticket investors and small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Most noteworthy would be the commitment of Ichijo Corporation to finalize its expansion plans in 2024 to increase its annual housing delivery capacity from 15,000 units to 20,000 units. This plan will contribute significantly to local employment with an additional 3,000-4,000 new jobs to their current 23,000-strong manpower complement of skilled workers, plus the possible expansion plans of the ShinEtsu Corporation, OB kogyo, Ltd., and NEC Networks & System Integration Corporation.

OB kogyo, Ltd., a die and mold company, expressed their intent to reinvest $3 million in their Philippine plant over the next 3 years, bolstering local manufacturing capabilities. On the other hand, ShinEtsu Corp., the global industry leader in the production and research of highperformance rare earth magnets, informed PEZA of its possible expansion plans, which are dependent on the growth of the global electronic vehicle (EV) sector.

Aside from the garnered investment pledges during the recent outbound mission, PEZA approved three big-ticket Japanese investments for this year, namely, Green Energy with Torrefaction Technology, Inc., Asian Transmission Corp., and Pricon Microelectronics Inc. Collectively, the three investments bring in a total of P20.6 billion, with a projected employment of 1,973 direct workers.

Panga is convinced that these recent big-ticket investments proved that there is trust and confidence in investing in our country, particularly from our long-standing trade partner, Japan, where it is at an alltime high.

Led by no less than President Marcos, PEZA will be doubling down on its aggressive and targeted approach to investment promotion. To date, 881 Japanese companies are registered with PEZA, bringing in P766.5 billion worth of investments in the country, with exports of $5.362 billion and generating up to 340,601 direct jobs for Filipinos.

To give our readers an idea how the PBBM travel tree is bearing fruits, from January to July, investments reached P97.16 billion compared to 2022’s P22.48 billion.

Exports of these investors will hit $2.20 billion compared to $747 million last year. What an amazing travel tree!

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