The Philippines calls for more investments in the cold storage market

The cold storage market is still fragmented as there are only a handful of investors

The demand for cold storage facilities continues to grow in the Philippines as there is a dire need for space to accommodate COVID-19 vaccines and food imports.

Karen Golez, the senior director for Industrial & Logistics and Transactions & Advisory services at KMC Savills, said that cold chain facilities are considered “game changers,” along with data centres. She emphasised that while this is the case, the cold storage market is still fragmented as there are only a handful of investors.

She said in an e-mail to BusinessWorld on 19 January that building better quality warehouses may be a challenge to developers, but that these are necessary to sustain the demand from these industries.

Larger cold storage facilities mean improved efficiency and reduced electricity costs.

Australia, Japan, and South Korea have contributed cold chain equipment in efforts to close the gaps in the storage capacity in the Philippine health care system.

More: Industrial and logistics investments across Asia Pacific to flourish in 2022

The Australian government gave the Philippines received AUD1.3 million (USD936,656) in funding. This was used to purchase 106 sets of spare parts, 30 solar-powered vaccine refrigerators, eight walk-in cold rooms, 20 sets of personal protective equipment (PPE) for the walk-in cold rooms.

Japan gave YEN687 million (USD13.3 million) so that the Philippines can purchase more cold chain equipment. “The program aims to establish an effective and safe vaccination system and to contain a further spread of COVID-19, through providing cold chain and medical equipment as promptly as possible,” said the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in a statement to The Inquirer.

The program involves an agreement signed by JICA and the Philippine government pertaining to the Japanese government’s crisis response emergency support.

The Republic of Korea, on 15 February, donated 34 refrigerated trucks and four service vans to support the country’s COVID vaccine drive. According to Rappler, the Department of Health (DOH) said that this was part of the Korean government’s USD2.5 million assistance to the Philippines.

The Property Report editors wrote this article. For more information, email: [email protected].