Manila, 15 September 2021 - Quisumbing Torres Corporate & Commercial/M&A partner Dennis Quintero, in his capacity as Chair of the Philippine-Australia Business Council, hosted the association's monthly membership meeting held 31 August 2021. Ma. Corazon Halili-Dichosa, Executive Director for Industry Development Services of the Philippine Board of Investments, provided a briefing on the country’s Philippine copper and iron and steel roadmaps.
The roadmaps aim to improve integration between the upstream, midstream, and downstream copper industries in order to create a higher-value and more sustainable copper industry in the Philippines by 2030, by developing major copper mines and new or higher-value copper products, as well as establishing a fully integrated copper industry in the Philippines from mining to downstream manufacturing.
The iron and steel industry aspires to be a major producer of high-quality steel products for domestic consumption, as well as a key contributor to the country's long-term growth by producing world-class products for industry and society.
Director Halili-Dichosa also discussed the masterplan for the establishment of the Leyte Ecological Industrial Zone (LEIZ). The establishment of the LEIZ will be in support of the Copper Industry Roadmap’s vision of a fully integrated copper industry, and the development of the Leyte province and surrounding areas
Dennis stated that the Philippine government through Executive Order 130 issued in 2021 has recognized that the mining sector can usher significant economic benefits to the country and can support various government including the Build, Build, Build infrastructure program and increasing employment opportunities in remote rural areas spurring countryside economic development. In addition, he noted that the lifting of the moratorium on new mineral agreements, renewal of the term of a Financial or Technical Agreement covering a large-scale gold-copper project, successful roll-out and implementation of mining audits, and other measures being undertaken by the government and private sector to address hurdles in the growth of the mining industry show that the sector is heading in the right direction. He stressed that the copper and iron and steel industry roadmaps show the seriousness of the Philippine government in harnessing the potential of these sectors in the long-term contributing to value-added production in the country.
Dennis heads the firm's Energy, Mining & Infrastructure and Financial Institutions Industry Groups.
The Philippines is one of the countries having huge quantities of metallic and non-metallic minerals such as gold, nickel, iron, copper, limestone, and marble. Copper has the biggest resource among the metallic minerals, estimated at 4 billion metric tons1 (MT).
The country is also rich in iron ore reserves of almost 300 million metric tons. To further promote investments in the mining of metals, the Philippine government allowed 100 percent foreign ownership of large-scale mines (subject to certain terms and conditions) in the hope of attracting quality operators and ensuring a steady output of metals.2
1 Copper - Securing The Future of Philippine Industries, industry.gov.ph, accessed 10 September 2021
2 Iron and Steel - Securing The Future of Philippine Industries, industry.gov.ph, accessed 10 September 2021