A Philippine employers' association said on Friday that the transfer of the Asia-Pacific air trans- shipment hub of US logistics giant Federal Express (FedEx) from Subic freeport in the Philippines to Guangzhou of China is not related to the political crisis in the country.

The Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) President Rene Soriano said at a press conference here that he doesn't see other companies following FedEx's move to leave the Philippines.

"I doubt that others will follow because the decision of FedEx to transfer to China was made a long time ago, before the crisis," he said.

He said that the FedEx relocation decision was made from a purely international business perspective instead of political situation.

Subic freeport, which is about 100 kilometers west of Manila, used to be the location of the largest US overseas navy base before its evacuation in 1983.

"You have to accept that China is a super economy at this point. It has more than enough space, and space is what FedEx needs. As of latest figures, investments in China have grown to as much as 50 billion US dollars as against ours which is less than 1 billion dollars. I guess logically they will consider putting up their own hub in China," he said.

Soriano said he remains hopeful that the FedEx operations in Subic will be retained to serve as a supplemental hub. He also said that no other companies have followed FedEx's example of moving their operations out of the country.

"We have no record yet of any company closing shop or leaving the country because of the political crisis. I don't think the transfer was prompted by the crisis or that it would spur others to follow because there is no reason for them to follow. Many of the companies have been here for many years to there is no reason to leave, especially now considering that the president (Arroyo) is in full control," he said.

FedEx announced on Wednesday it would relocate its Asia- Pacific trans-shipment hub from the Philippines to China, with its China operations expected to start in December 2008.

Source: Xinhua