Agence France Presse - Nike Inc. planning to pullout from the Philippines: official

Nike Inc. planning to pullout from the Philippines: official

Agence France Presse: Thursday, August 6, 1998

MANILA, Aug 6 (AFP) - Philippine trade officials on Thursday confirmed rumors that US-based sportswear and equipment maker Nike Inc. is planning to pull out its operations here as part of global cost-cutting measures.

But Melito Salazar, managing director of the trade department's board of investments, said his office was negotiating with Nike officials to convince them to stay.

Nike has two manufacturing ventures located in separate export processing zones outside Manila. The size of Nike's investments or its workforce in the Philippines were not immediately available.

"We are confident that we can put a strong pitch for the continuation of Nike operations in the Philippines. We are still looking at it carefully and we are using our linkages to have a better understanding of the issue," Salazar told journalists.

He admitted however that the "sports shoes market has softened" because of a general economic slowdown caused by the regional currency meltdown.

Rumors that Nike was closing its Philippine operations surfaced after the Oregon-based firm reported falling sales in the Asia-Pacific in the fiscal year ending May 31.

Revenues in Japan also dropped 46 percent on weak consumer spending, it said.

Nike withdrew from the Philippines in 1982 but returned in 1996.

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ŠCopyright 1998 Comtex Inc. Published by OneSource Information Services, Inc., August, 1998.