President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has welcomed the plan of SHERA Public Company Ltd. to invest PHP2.9 billion in the Philippines for the production of fiber cement building materials for local and export markets.

In a meeting with SHERA Public Company Ltd top executives on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Lao DPR on Wednesday, Marcos said he is hoping that the Thai company can make the Philippines its “center hub for export.”

The President also commended the company for being ahead of the curb for incorporating the environmental aspect of their planned operation.

“You started earlier and now you have products that I don’t think I’ve seen anywhere else that can claim that kind of green credibility that your products have, including the power that you use is also well,” Marcos said, as quoted in a Presidential Communications Office news release on Thursday.

“You can build a whole house with it already. Because I saw the wall application, the roof application, every floor, et cetera. That’s remarkable,” he added.

The President also expects the company’s Philippine operation to boost government efforts to address the current housing backlog with its ready-to-build housing materials.

A leading manufacturer of unique and environmentally friendly fiber cement products, SHERA will build its plant inside TECO Industrial Park in Mabalacat City, Pampanga, and is expected to commence operations by the first quarter of 2025.

The project will be SHERA’s first overseas operations in the Philippines that could employ 120 to 150 full-time workers.

Aside from manufacturing products for the Philippines, the Mabalacat facility will also export to Taiwan, South Korea, and parts of North Asia and Oceania.

SHERA has an annual production capacity of 1 million metric tons and a distribution network spanning over 15,000 points across Southeast Asia and India.

In a statement Thursday, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said SHERA’s project is considered a strategic investment that would be endorsed for green lane treatment.

President Marcos also witnessed the turnover of the Certificate for Green Lane Endorsement to Shera in Vientiane, Laos on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit.

The DTI said Shera was endorsed for green lane treatment in national government agencies (NGAs) and local government units (LGUs) for its “green and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven fiber cement boards” project.

President Marcos signed Executive 18 in February last year to expedite processing of permits for strategic investments in NGAs and LGUs. (PNA)