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With the moving of about 40, 000 military personnel from the US together with their dependents, and other civilian workers to Guam over a five year period, more Filipino businessman are foreseeing the island as a potential investment area.

During the Guam Trade Mission conference, that attracted about 172 Filipino executive and businessmen, a Guam-Philippine Business Council has been formed. The objective of the said council is to boost and further strengthen the relationship of the two parties in terms of business and trade.

Among the attendees of the conference was the former president of MERALCO (Manila Electric Company), Jesus Francisco. Francisco is now the chairperson of MIESCOR (Meralco Industrial Engineering Service Corp.) which is a subsidiary of Meralco. According to Francisco, he is glad to attend the conference because he is interested to look at the opportunities in Guam in terms of electro-mechanical, power plants, building transmission lines and other which the MIESCOR could engage in.

The statement of Francisco was in relation to the statement of Gov. Felix Camacho, governor of Guam in a briefing prior to the conference who said that with the moving of US military personnel and their dependents to Guam from Okinawa, Japan, Guam will be needing to build a 200- mw power plant that will meet the increase in power requirements once the military starts to transfer.

The opportunities in Guam in term of information technologies, especially in terms of conversion of data are also being investigated according to the president and CEO of 1 Document Corp. He also said that the island is an ideal investment area for Philippines because of its proximity to the Philippines along with the similarities of its people to the Filipinos in culture and history.

David John who is the president of ASC Trust Corp. which is based in Guam said that with the buildup of military in Guam, Philippines and Guam both will have an increase in two-way business traffic. He said that more businesses will come here in Manila while those businesses here in Manila will have an opportunity to go to Guam.

By 2010, about 8, 000 military personnel together with their 9, 000 dependents who are now based in Okinawa will transfer to Guam. The transfer will run over a 5-year period. With these, Camacho took note of numbers of opportunities for Filipino investors specially those who are in real estate, agriculture and aquaculture, financial services and captive insurance, and even retails in food products.

The transfer of the military personnel will necessitate construction and improvement of infrastructure of the island like bridges, roads, health and recreational facilities and housing. An estimated $15 billion is expected to be spent by Japan and US as relocation fund. According to Camacho, the bottom of line of this is that the island will be needing additional workers to about 12, 000- 15, 000 who will support the military buildup. And with the initiative of private sectors, it is expected to even reach to 25, 000 workers.

Other jobs opportunities that will be opened to the Filipinos aside from skilled construction workers will include occupational therapist, engineers, physicians, architects, nurses and the like. Guam has been exempted from the “H” visas or the US wide quotas for immigration which will take effect beginning November of this year, in order to support the military buildup. The exemption from the “H” visas will last up to the last day of 2014 and would cover not just Filipinos but all nationalities.

Workers from the Philippines will only be given temporary working visas which mean they will need to return home when their contracts are up. But those working with “H-1B” visas – visas given for professional or specialty workers and those who have a US master’s degree can apply for a green card during their stay on Guam.

The chairman of the Guam Economic Development Authority, Ricardo Dueñas revealed the putting up of a liaison officer in Guam by the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency Administration (POEA) to assist in the hiring of workers from the Philippines for the projects.

Peter Sgro, president and chairman of a consulting firm in Guam, the International Group Inc., and who is among the primary organizers of the Guam Trade Mission to Manila which is composed of 20 man said that the conference had exceeded their expectations. He added that the interest in investing on Guam is clearly indicated by the attendance of representatives coming from the executive level.