THE Philippine Franchise Association (PFA) is seeking government support in crafting and implementing a national franchising blueprint as countries such as Malaysia, Korea and Singapore are threatening to snatch “Asia’s franchising hub” title from the Philippines.

“While we are way ahead of other countries in terms of growth in franchising, they—specifically Malaysia, Korea and Singapore—might easily catch up because of government support,” PFA Chairman Emeritus Samie Lim said.

The Korean government, for instance, subsidized all the expenses to ensure the participation of a record number of countries when it hosted the last Franchise Asia Show.

Malaysia, on the other hand, offers financial packages to its franchise sector through its Perbadanan Nasional Bernad and SME Bank, and provides them assistance in getting a suitable and reasonably priced business premise.

Lim said the crafting of national franchising blueprint will be a fitting follow-up to the Philippines’ hosting of the Franchise Asia 2011 this month at the SMX Convention Center, which is intended to cement the country’s positioning as the franchising hub of Asia.

To date, Lim said delegations from 26 countries have already confirmed participation in the forthcoming event.

He said it is worthy to note that while global investors are focused on emerging economies like Brazil, Russia, India and China, businessmen from these countries are in fact coming to the Philippines with the intention of establishing presence here.

“It shows that the Philippines is the place to be right now. The flavor of the month now is the Philippines. Of course, brands from the United States and Europe are coming. Taiwan is sending 58 brands,” Lim said. He said Filipino talent makes the Philippines the best place for international brands that want to try out the Asian market.

He said aside from the renowned hospitality and English-speaking capability of Filipinos, the Philippines also has the most number of certified franchise executives in the region.