India, Philippines to enhance bilateral ties

Jasleen Kaur | The Dollar Business

Underlining the fact that bilateral trade between India and Philippines hasn’t reached to the desired level, the two countries on Friday expressed their desire to enhance the scope of their bilateral trade relations by focusing more on goods that holds high trade potential.

“There is a need to further facilitate trade between India and the Philippines especially since both economies are growing. As of now, India’s investments in the Philippines are mainly in the area of textile, IT, steel, airports, chemical and pharmaceuticals,” said Anil Monga, Managing Director, Emmsons International Ltd.

“Another major area, which needs attention is the food area. The Philippines imports around 1.5 million tonnes of rice from various countries, especially, from Thailand and Vietnam where the Indian share is negligible. A better collaboration in this sector could bring desired trade result for the two countries,” Monga said.

On Friday, Federation of India Export Organisation (FIEO) had organised an interactive session, “Philippines India Joint Working Group on Trade & Investments”, in New Delhi to discuss trade areas where the two countries could cooperate to enhance bilateral trade and investments. Several senior officials from Ministry/Department of Philippines participated in the event.

Since the Philippines opened its market for Indian rice at private rates in 2015, more than 22,000 tonnes of rice has been exported from India.

Monga said Thailand and Vietnam traders sell the rice collectively through a single agency or a G2G basis to draw a large price advantage. “We suggest that the Philippines need to look in the current scenario of price and should trade with India.”

Speaking on the two countries’ existing trade relations and future opportunities, FIEO Director General and CEO Ajay Sahai said, “Philippines are playing an important role in terms of investment as the GDP was around 6% in 2015, and is expecting to reach almost 7% in 2016-17.”