The Manila Investment Forum brings together Taiwanese small and medium-sized business owners to exchange business opportunities with Philippine officials and business representatives

This article was initially featured on the Commercial Times on December 16, 2024.

The Philippine real estate industry will usher in a golden decade. Philippine real estate expert [Manila Real Estate Expert – Simpson] Lin Zhiwei recently held the 2024 Manila Investment Forum at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Taipei. Business owners interested in investing are invited to participate. The population of the Philippines is about to exceed 120 million. As the Manila Rapid Transit and subway construction are being completed and opened to traffic after the epidemic, international companies and Taiwanese businessmen have begun to invest in the Philippines.

Professor Chen Zongxian pointed out in his special speech “Suggestions for Industrial Development in the Philippines after the US Election” that the Philippines is promising for its subsequent development and is a good choice for enterprises to deploy overseas investments and diversify their supply chains. Terry Lin, investment officer of the Taipei Trade and Investment Center in the Philippines, was also invited to give a speech on “Philippine Investment Environment and Taiwanese Business Opportunities in 2025” and thanked Asia’s largest fragrance manufacturer Ruize Enterprise and other business owners present at the forum for choosing to set up factories in the Philippines. , he also encouraged more Taiwanese businessmen to make good use of the Philippines’ manpower, language and tariff advantages in entering major global markets to deploy in the Philippines, reduce geopolitical risks and increase corporate competitiveness.

Ms. Che Diaz, Executive Vice-President for Commercial of Shang Properties (a Shangri-La five-star hotel brand) who flew to Taiwan to attend the 2024 Manila Investment Forum, said that the Philippines now has good incentive policies for foreign companies. The real estate market follows international trends. After the epidemic, the overall performance growth of our group Shangri-La has increased significantly. Compared with other countries, the population of the Philippines is gradually growing. The population of the Everbright Manila area is nearly 20 million. The strong demand for residential properties is very suitable for the layout of real estate. Investment, rental returns and capital gains are very competitive in Asian countries. In addition, as we are a global hotel chain brand Shangri-La, the quality of our houses and the diversity of public facilities are also ahead of other Philippine counterparts. Take the development and sales of one of our projects, Laya By Shang Properties, an airport MRT residence in 2024. In just six months, we have experienced an overall increase of 9-15%. The price is relatively reasonable. We also provide interest-free installment payments, which is very suitable for asset allocation investment.

[Manila Real Estate Expert – Simpson] Lin Zhiwei also delivered a special speech at the forum “Manila Real Estate Market Outlook in 2025”. He reminded that there are several elements to pay attention to when investing in Philippine real estate! 1. When Taiwanese purchase overseas real estate, they must look for local listed developer companies and not companies that run single services. 2. Location is very important! Be sure to buy in the city center or in protein areas with value-added potential, such as transportation infrastructure and airport rapid transit in the future. 3. If you want to buy real estate in the Philippines, people should pay attention to whether their cash flow is sufficient. 4. It is recommended that if you buy a second or more house, it is better to resell or rent it out. There are too many suite products on the market. It is easy to rent out, but it will take a long time to resell them in the future.

Lin Zhiwei also signed a Taiwan market general agent agreement with Ms. Che Diaz, vice president of administrative business of Shang Properties in the Philippines, and officially became the representative of Shangri-La’s five-star hotel developer brand in Taiwan, responsible for developing sales channels and assisting media exposure. Taiwan’s real estate transaction volume has shrunk this year. Lin Zhiwei welcomes Taiwanese real estate industry players to visit Manila to inspect cooperative sales. The Philippines is less than two hours’ flight from Taiwan and is an English-speaking country. It is a blue ocean market that has received relatively little attention. In recent years, Shangri-La has chosen to cooperate with Lin Zhiwei to develop the Taiwan market. This is the first time that the group has a Taiwanese joining its team to serve as a window for communication with industry players in joint sales and construction projects in Taiwan. The main reason is that Lin Zhiwei is well versed in the cultures of Taiwan and the Philippines and has the experience to It is highly professional and can provide comprehensive after-sales property management services, giving customers trust and peace of mind, and promoting the safety of overseas real estate transactions. This year, Lin Zhiwei was awarded the annual case sales champion by the five-star Shangri-La hotel developer (Shang Properties) in the Philippines. He became the only Taiwanese industry representative and was also awarded the honor of No. 1 sales in the international market.

Another reason why it is worth investing in real estate is that Manila now has four subways and rapid transit lines that have begun planning and construction and are expected to be opened to traffic in 2029. The LRT 1 extension line was also opened last month. Therefore, real estate track economics has attracted many people from various countries to invest in Manila real estate components along the MRT line. In particular, Taiwanese and Japanese investors are very optimistic about Manila’s transportation infrastructure. Therefore, Lin Zhiwei suggested that you can choose the subject matter by following the airport MRT. For example, the project we are promoting in Taiwan [Laya By Shang Properties] is not far from the future Manila Airport MRT station, department stores and Shangri-La five-star hotel, and is in Japan. The design office plans and the building materials are also of good quality. [Laya By Shang Properties], the developer behind this construction project is Mr. Robert Kuok. The Kuok Group invested in and independently listed [Shang Properties Inc.] in the Philippines. He was listed as the richest man in Malaysia by Forbes. The hotels he built, Luxury homes and construction projects have high quality and good reviews in Asia. It is a major international brand that consumers can invest with confidence.