The Philippine mining industry is targeting China and Dubai for investments amid the slowdown in western markets due to the ongoing financial crisis. One of the business sectors to benefit from this is the used mining and construction heavy equipment suppliers.
Environment Secretary Lito Atienza said they hope to forge deals in a mining conference to be held in Beijing, China from November 10 to 13. He added a number of Dubai-based mining firms will also visit the Philippines this month to study their prospects and also look at used mining and construction heavy equipment for sale.
Atienza said contractors in Dubai are interested in iron, copper and gold mining in light of massive construction works in the country. He noted Middle East countries have become big markets for metallic minerals which are used for making steel and other construction materials.
Atienza said the government is enticing foreign investors to put their money in mineral extraction as well as production and processing."Even for Middle East companies, we’re not interested in allowing them to just extract minerals," he remarked.
The government is expecting mining investments to hit $829 million by the end of the year, up by 25 percent from the $664 million in 2007 but below the full-year target of $1 billion. Investments for the first half already reached $260.6 million.
Mines and Geosciences Bureau director Horacio Ramos said the government expects mining investments in the second half of 2008 to reach $565.5 million, comprising capital poured into 40 projects, including Atlas Consolidated Mining's Carmen copper mine and Sumitomo Metal's expansion of its Rio Tuba nickel plant.
He added some of the planned investments that did not push through this year may be realized in 2009, thereby raising investments next year to around $2 billion.
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