Mr. Joseph Sy is the chairman of Global Ferronickel Holdings, Inc. (GFNI), a publicly listed mining and exploration company in the Philippines. He also serves as the chairman of GFNI’s subsidiaries, Platinum Group Metals Corporation (PGMC), which operates the Cagdianao Nickel Expansion Project (CNEP) mine in Claver, Surigao del Norte, and Ipilan Nickel Corporation (INC), which operates under the Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) issued to Celestial Nickel Mining Exploration Corporation (CNMEC) in Brooke’s Point, Palawan. Through Mr. Sy’s strong and visionary leadership, PGMC became the largest exporter of nickel ore in the Philippines in terms of gross sales value.
Taking an active involvement in the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) as its mining director, Mr. Sy currently heads one of the most influential business associations in the Philippines because of the strength and diversity of the businesses it represents.
Similarly, Mr. Sy serves as the president of the Chamber of Philippines – China Economy & Trade Promotion, Inc., a non-profit organization that promotes Philippine-China business relations; an honorary chairman of the Philippine Silk Road Chamber of International Commerce; and sits as the vice-president of the International Chamber of Commerce Philippines.
He also leads the Guandong Century Tsingshan Nickel Industry Company Limited, a ferronickel smelter with up to 25,000 production capacity for contained nickel located in Yangjiang City, Guandong Province, PRC.
He was initially conferred with the title of Fellow and was eventually recognized as a Doctor Fellow of the Academy of Multi-Skills UK, a leading professional institution in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Sy also holds the titles Honorary Consul of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic in Davao, Philippines and Honorary Chairman of the Philippine Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Inc. and the Philippine Silk Road Chamber of International Commerce. He also serves as economic adviser of the Province of Surigao Del Norte.
In recognition of his contributions to business and society, he was appointed Auxiliary Rear Admiral by the Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary Executive Squadron.
Mr. Sy is also one of the founding members and now an adviser to the Philippine Nickel Industry Association (PNIA), which was organized to promote and develop the nickel industry in the country and aims to represent the Philippine nickel industry in championing its cause to various stakeholders.
