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By JOHN LANDON APBU, Associated Press The building supply business is booming in the Philippines, as thousands of Filipino businesses are tapping Amazon’s cloud computing platform to meet demand.
With the Philippines already in the midst of an economic recovery, and the government investing heavily in infrastructure projects, the growing demand for new buildings is likely to keep up.
The Philippines is one of Amazon’s largest markets, accounting for roughly $40 billion a year in sales, according to research firm Euromonitor International.
But the Philippines is only a small part of the worldwide market.
There are a lot of other countries in Asia that also need building supplies.
The market is expected to grow to $30 billion in 2020 from $20 billion last year, according the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Association, which tracks trade and investment in the region.
“I think this will be a very large market for us,” said Ricardo Tama, president of the Association of Southeast Asian Development Banks.
“We are definitely going to be a player in this market.”
Amazon announced plans last year to open two fulfillment centers in the country.
But building supplies in the nation’s capital are being supplied by other countries.
As part of its plan to expand its logistics and fulfillment capabilities, the company has set up an office in Manila.
The company is also providing the Philippines with more than 500 construction jobs.
In a news release announcing the new facility, Amazon said it will provide “a wide variety of goods, services and infrastructure” and build a new fulfillment center in Quezon City, the capital of the Philippines.
Amazon also announced plans to open an office for “furniture and industrial construction.”
Amazon said the expansion is part of a broader strategy to grow its services, including its Prime business.
“Building supply is a very important part of our fulfillment efforts,” said Alex K. Chan, a spokesman for Amazon’s fulfillment operations.
“Amazon is investing billions of dollars to provide its customers with the highest quality products and services.”
Amazon also has offices in more than a dozen cities in the United States, including New York, San Francisco and Seattle.
Amazon’s global footprint in the U.S. grew from about 200,000 employees in 2007 to more than 3 million employees in 2016.
It said the number of fulfillment workers in the city of Seattle alone has more than tripled in the last year.
Amazon said more than 1.3 million workers across its fulfillment network are part of Prime, with more coming on board as the company expands its Prime Now service.
Amazon has been expanding its fulfillment efforts in recent years, offering a range of products and other services to Amazon Prime members, including furniture and appliances.
Amazon Prime is one major perk of the Prime program, which offers discounts on some popular items such as Amazon Prime Pantry items and online shopping.
Prime Now is available to customers in more markets.
Amazon is expanding its business in the Amazon marketplace in some ways, too.
For example, Amazon has expanded its fulfillment services in the US to include shipping to customers who don’t have Amazon Prime accounts.
Amazon now offers a “special delivery” service for customers who can’t sign up for Amazon Prime.
But that service is only available to Prime members in the contiguous United States.
Amazon did not respond to a request for comment.
The expanded U.K. fulfillment center will allow Amazon to deliver to more locations in the UK, the Associated Press reported.
Amazon and its U.KS. business partners have been pushing to expand to more countries, including China, Mexico and Brazil, which are among the most lucrative markets for Amazon.
Amazon already operates warehouses in more countries than Amazon’s main international market, the United Kingdom.
Amazon currently has warehouses in over 40 countries, with plans to add to that number.
Amazon plans to expand that list to at least 25 countries by the end of 2020, according its news release.
It has also said it plans to launch more fulfillment centers overseas in the next three years.
The AP spoke with several employees of Amazon in the cities where its fulfillment centers are located.
They said the company is focusing more on the U and UK markets.
The employees also said the expanded fulfillment centers will likely reduce the number and speed of Amazon deliveries, because it’s easier to ship items to customers and they’re also able to have faster delivery times.
The workers spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
In addition to the Philippines and the U, Amazon is also expanding its global fulfillment services, which include warehouses in Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Spain and Switzerland.
The Amazon website is currently listed as unavailable.
The Associated Press can be reached at [email protected]
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