Philip Morris International said Friday it is expanding its economic footprint in the Philippines as it invests in a new global business service hub in Makati City that will generate close to 1,000 jobs.
The global shared service center, registered as PMI Business Solutions (Philippines) Inc., will render integrated business solutions to PMI affiliates in the Asia-Pacific and European regions, including the Philippines, it said in a statement. It is the second global center established by PMI. The first is in Krakow, Poland.
It is on top of services to be rendered to PMFTC Inc., a business combination between LT Group Inc. and PMI, which is leading the transformation of the Philippines tobacco industry.
The global shared service center is expected to create hundreds of fresh job opportunities within the next three years, coming at an opportune time amid the economic disruptions brought by the pandemic.
The wealth of Filipino talent and niche skills was the driving factor in PMI’s choice of Metro Manila as a strategic global hub.
“The Philippines was chosen as a strategic location because of the diverse talent pool and availability in the country that would enable us to launch new capabilities to fuel transformation across PMI,” said PBS president Sharmini Krishnan.
“Global Hub – Manila will enable the design of digital and global solutions for PMI and deliver business solutions in the area of Finance, People & Culture and Information Technology,” Krishnan said during the inauguration of the new office at 8 Rockwell, Makati City.
The global service hub is part of PMI’s multi-year investment and economic value creation plan in the country that would create almost 1,000 new jobs on top of the two million direct employment and dependents of the rotational rice-maize-tobacco industry in both upstream and downstream of the value chain.
The new company is developing from a transactional to an expert-based organization, expanding beyond finance services into areas related to customer and consumer solutions, data analytics and project management. It serves more than 30 countries with over 350 colleagues.
PMI said its expansion in the Philippines came in the heels of its ambitious smoke-free future vision to one day stop selling cigarettes. The additional investment is a testament to PMI’s confidence and commitment to the Philippine economy, it said.
