Trump ‘biggest risk’ to trade: port magnate

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US President Donald Trump, Jr. is today’s biggest risk to global trade, according to port and casino tycoon Enrique Razon, Jr.

“Trump is the biggest issue, by far probably the only risk. Well, economic growth of course is always a risk, but Trump is the biggest unknown and the biggest risk,” Razon told reporters on the sidelines of International Container Terminal Services, Inc.’s (ICTSI) annual stockholders’ meeting this week.

Razon is the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of ICTSI, which operates 28 ports and terminals in six continents around the world. He is also executive chairman and CEO of casino operator Bloomberry Resorts Corp.

Trump’s protectionist America First Policy puts American workers and businesses first when it comes to trade; he demonstrated this policy by withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership and making certain any new trade deals are made in the interest of American workers.

In response to a stockholder’s question, Razon said, “I still don’t know how his policies will affect global trade” and the Philippines in particular, as “it is too early to tell.” He noted, however, that “if there is an impact, it will not be favorable to the rest of the world.”

As for the Philippines, the port executive said the government’s massive infrastructure program, dubbed as Build Build Build, will be “very good for the country” if executed within the target timeframes.

Economic managers recently launched the government’s infrastructure program, which entails an P8.4-trillion investment in the next five years. The government targets completing all of the projects before the end of the current administration’s term in 2022.

Asked if he is optimistic that these projects would be completed, Razon replied he is “optimistic in the players that are executing most of these (projects).”

He said there are no plans to invest in or bid for projects outside the group’s core business, except on certain projects such as roads leading to the group’s businesses.

Despite generally sluggish trade, Razon noted that ICTSI-run terminals handled a consolidated volume of 8.689 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2016, or 12% up from the figure in 2015. For 2017, Razon said that despite the given “potential looming uncertainties, we look to the future as a much stronger company.”

Because the firm is able to finish most of its projects on or ahead of time, Razon said there is “nothing much in the pipeline” this year except to continue the development of its terminals in Puerto Cortes in Honduras, in Mexico, and in Manila, which have an allocated capital expenditure budget of around $240 million.

ICTSI is also currently bidding for a port in Greece and has already reached the second round of talks.

Razon said he is also eyeing other projects, one of which is in Africa, but declined to provide other details. – Roumina Pablo

Image courtesy of Suwit Ritjaroon at FreeDigitalPhotos.net