SEEING a rise in consumption trend in the Philippines by 2016, Japanese service companies can make a headstart by expanding their reach and creating partnerships in the country, as well as in other Asean members, a Japanese trade and industry official said on Friday.
Japanese officials from the private and public sector convened on Friday at the Peninsula Manila for the second International Symposium on the Service Industry to discuss the expanding Japanese service industry in Asean, especially in the food and beverage, and retail subsector, and how the regional bloc’s booming population and spiking consumer power is propelling the industry.
Hideyuki Ohashi, deputy director general for IT strategy, commerce and information at Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, said of the Philippines in particular: “According to an International Monetary Fund prediction, the per-capita GDP in the Philippines will reach $3,000 in 2016. The country’s consumption structure will change remarkably in the next two or three years. The purchase of durable goods and service consumption will become active. This applies to the Asean region, too. Asean is now going to drastically change the consumption structure. Therefore, now is the time for Japan to make substantial contributions to Asean by offering the Japanese service industry system and know-how.”
Recognizing the popularity of Japanese food and pop culture in the Philippines is already an indicator that further introduction of Japanese concepts in services may be welcomed and yet adapting the system of the Japanese service industry, said Ohashi, is hinged on whether it will take root in the local culture. This is where local partnerships will come in.
Tie-ups with local firms is crucial, said Ohashi, as the local partners will be the one in charge of adapting the “Japanese system” to be palatable to the preferences of Filipinos.
Ohashi said the expansion of service-oriented businesses in Asean does not only have the effect of expanding the Japanese footprint abroad, but also incites more Asean investment into their country where new markets can be created, strengthening the Japan-Asean collaboration.
Senior officers of Jollibee Foods Corp. and Familymart Co. Ltd., two companies who have successfully globalized their business, were present during the symposium to share their approach on overseas expansion and collaboration with overseas partners. Hiroyuki Ishige, chairman and CEO of Japan External Trade Organization (Jetro), said in a separate speech that the Asean, as a growing consumer market with 600 million people, would need further liberalization to attract Japanese expansion of businesses.
They expect this to happen through the integration into a single economic community in 2015.
Hironobu Kitagawa, director in charge of the service industry at Jetro, told reporters at the sidelines of the symposium that aside from the food and beverage and retail industry, a subsector of service that has a growing potential here in the Philippines is in the field of education.
“In education, the Philippines is competitive as an English-speaking country. The market for language education in the Philippines for Japanese is still growing, and now it’s only through online,” said Kitagawa, adding that there is room for growth in the particular sector.