THE partnership between Philippine and Spanish business chambers will be a platform for bringing in more investment in manufacturing and technology, the Spanish ambassador said.
On the sidelines of the 10th Philippine-Spain Forum on Friday, Ambassador Miguel U. Delgado noted the great interest from Spanish companies to invest in the Philippines.
“We have seen that there is a big interest from Spanish companies (for collaboration with) Filipino companies,” Mr. Delgado told BusinessWorld, adding that the interest is particularly strong in tourism, power generation and transmission, and agriculture with an emphasis on food logistics.
“Trade between Spain and the Philippines is doing well; it has recovered from the pandemic. But we really think they can be doing better and so we will put in some instruments like these MoUs (memoranda of understanding) and these forums,” he said.
“At the moment, the bulk of the imports and exports are in the primary sector, and we want to amplify this to other sectors like manufacturing, electronics, etc.,” he added.
At the two-day forum, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) and the Spanish Chamber of Commerce signed an MoU aimed at developing economic ties in manufacturing, information and communications technology and tourism.
“Through this MoU with our counterpart in Spain, we’re hoping that we both can work together, harder than we have been doing, to really pursue collaboration between the Spanish and Philippine technology and business sectors,” PCCI President Enunina V. Mangio said.
“Last night I was talking to some of the delegates. They’re seeking out possible business partners for manufacturing, energy and technology transfer,” she added.
She added that the Spanish companies were involved in the manufacturing of food and information technology (IT) equipment.
“I presume that they’re interested in IT because our IT is not as advanced as that of our neighbors. So I think they want to bring in other technology that can be used by our existing facilities,” she added.
According to Mr. Delgado, “the idea of the MoU… (is to) bring delegations of entrepreneurs from Spain to the Philippines and from the Philippines to Spain,” he said.
Ms. Mangio said that she expects to join two business delegations to Spain this year, one of which is expected in May and the other in October.
“This MoU is going to improve our trade relationship. You know we have a very big trade imbalance with them, but with this now, our relationship with Spain will improve which will also improve our trade relationship with them,” she added. — Justine Irish D. Tabile
