EU Chamber elects first female, Filipina president

EU Chamber elects first female, Filipina president

Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas
GMA News
28 May 2026

The European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) on Wednesday announced its new Board of Directors, electing Diana Edralin as president — the first woman and Filipina to lead the organization in its history.

Edralin, general manager of Roche Philippines, will head the board as the chamber prepares for the upcoming EU-ASEAN Business Summit in September.

Her appointment comes after the sixth round of negotiations on the EU-Philippines free trade agreement (FTA) concluded on May 22, 2026.

She succeeds Paulo Duarte, who served as ECCP president for three years and helped expand the organization’s membership to nearly 1,000.

Lars Wittig, Ruben Camba, and Roman Menz were elected vice presidents, while Albert Perez was named treasurer. Judge Cesar Cruz will continue serving as corporate secretary.

The ECCP also announced the addition of two new board members: Ruben Camba, managing director for Southeast Asia at ACCIONA, and Liher Urbizu, president and managing director of SAP Southeast Asia.

They will join continuing board members Bernd Schneider, area general manager of Raffles and Fairmont Philippines; Tarang Gupta, managing director of Alaska Milk Corp.; Juha-Pekka Hoikka, chief representative and managing director of Airbus Helicopters Philippines Inc.; Jaime Urquijo, group head at Ayala Land; and Sandeep Uppal, president of HSBC Philippines.

“The new Board will steer the Chamber’s strategic direction from 2026 to 2027 and further strengthen its commitment to advancing trade, investment, and economic ties between Europe and the Philippines,” the ECCP said.—MCG, GMA News

European firm invests in Batangas

5,000 new jobs await Pinoys at future Batangas plant

Story by Alden M. Monzon
Inquirer.net
08 April 2024

The EMS Group of Companies is partnering with a European firm to set up a Batangas production plant for goods targeting female consumers, a venture expected to create up to 5,000 new jobs.

EMS Group of Companies president and chief executive Ferdinand Ferrer told reporters last week they were in the process of finalizing the entry of the European firm.

He said they hoped to start facilitating documentary requirements for the partnership in June.

“The facility is there. But now we have to re-facilitate it to suit these new products,” Ferrer said on the sidelines of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s general membership meeting at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati. He declined to specify the amount of potential investment.

The EMS Group of Companies has been in operation in the Philippines for over 15 years and currently has around 18,000 employees. Founded by Ferrer, it has four local subsidiaries engaged in electronics manufacturing, training equipment and learning solutions, and recruitment.

He said they were also wooing other foreign firms, one American and one Japanese, planning to move their assembly operations out of China.

Ferrer noted a rising trend in the international business community called “ABC,” which stands for “Anything but China,” which is characterized by the flight of companies from the East Asian country. INQ