Former senator and eight-division world boxing champion Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao is eyeing a manpower exchange in the lucrative market of Korean cosmetic product manufacturing which has a steady consumer foothold in the Philippines.
Pacquiao and his wife Jinkee flew to Incheon, South Korea recently with longtime ally former Ilocos Gov. Luis “Chavit” Singson and Department of Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella to explore investment opportunities, according to information shared by the office of the ex-senator.
Part of the plan of Pacquiao’s group is to tap the country’s premiere skills development training arm, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), to train qualified Filipino workers for possible employment in the multibillion-dollar cosmetics manufacturing industry in Korea.
The industry’s main headquarters is in the Incheon Free Economic Zone in South Korea.
Pacquiao and Singson envision gradually expanding job prospects for Filipinos in other Korean business sectors while creating the same opportunities for Koreans willing to work in the Philippines.
As per the most recent numbers posted by the Commission on Filipinos Overseas, Filipinos living in South Korea are estimated north of 70,000—up by around 70 percent from the previous data.
Korean nationals living in the Philippines, on the other hand, are estimated at more than 43,000.
Pacquiao and Singson also met with leading manufacturers of Korean electric vehicles to explore the possibility of building affordable green vehicles under the Philippine government’s current transport modernization program.
The former senator said this will help our environment long-term in reducing deadly carbon emissions from the transport sector, and our public utility vehicle drivers coping with the cost of the present modernization program.
The prototype vehicle s are expected to roll out within the year.
Pacquiao added that their planned $100 million investment in South Korea focuses primarily in creating, developing, and improving Filipino livelihoods.
Pacquiao noted that geography, long business relations and culture mutually respected by both countries, play a crucial role in choosing South Korea, the Land of the Morning Calm, to be their next best investment destination.
