Pharmaceutical Services Corp., an engineering and contracting firm based in Pasadena servicing the biotechnology and pharmaceutical services industry, is keen in putting up of a -million production of biotechnological serum facility here for specific cancer patients in the country and abroad.

Trade and Industry Undersecretary Elmer C. Hernandez, who is also managing head of the Board of Investments (BoI), said that this drug company is just among the over 10 American firms which have expressed interest to invest in the country at the recent investment mission to the US.

Hernandez, who led the mission, said Pharmaceutical Services Corp. has expressed desire to mission to locate its production facility in a two-hectare lot close to a university.

The company has rejected the offer to locate near UP Diliman because the lease offer was only good for five years saying it prefers a longer lease period of 15 years. The BoI is also proposing UP Los Banos in Laguna.

"They are in a hurry as they have to make a decision within the year," Hernandez said.

According to Hernandez, the project of Pharmaceutical Services requires high quality and stable water supply.

"They need lots of water for its reactor in the biotech," Hernandez said.

Pharmaceutical Services Corp. has an existing biotech serum production facility in Korea but wanted to put up another facility in the Philippines because of the country's excellent pool in the medical profession.

Another possible big investor is Catapult Communications Corp., which is interested in putting up a software-based test systems and protocol analyzers for next generation digital telecommunications.

The Silicon Valley-based company is in the process of hiring a Filipino country manager for the Philippines.

Hernandez also met with officials of the Corporate Development Solutions Group, which have expressed interest to be an equity investor in a local company that will introduce "Moduloc", an innovative construction method for earthquake-prone countries.

It also intends to forge licensing agreement with local firms that are interested in its technology.

UBEC Development LLC, a global real estate development company, has also a joint venture with a Filipino group for the establishment of a retirement village in Bohol. Initially, UBEC is putting up 50 villas but it intends to develop a total of 250 villas that would cater to American retirees.

Hernandez said that American retirees normally received ,000 in monthly pension but the amount would not be able to support them if they live in the U.S. At present, most of the American retirees have sought refuge in Panama where the cost of living is reasonable.

Hernandez discussed the project with UBEC managing general partner Hal Spice. Also interested in the country is Stull Industries has revealed plans of relocating its facilities from Vietnam and China to the Philippines because of intellectual property rights problems there.

Stull is an industry leader in the custom grill business and in the entire truck and automotive industry, producing products such as running boards, bumpers and valances, body accents and other accessories.

Other American companies that expressed interest in the Philippines include LAX Management Group LLC, OnVAIO LLC and Hanson Advisors LLC and TroubleFree PC.