Linking Vietnam and Philippine Businesses

Commencing in 2007, Philippine Trade and Investment Centre (PTIC) has helped promote Philippine exports and services, generate inward investments and provide assistance in bilateral and multilateral trade and economic negotiations, and ensure further strengthening of dynamic bilateral trade . Vietnam Business Forum talks with Mr Froilan Emil D. Pamintuan - Commercial Attaché of the Philippine Embassy’s PTIC.

Bilateral trade between the Philippines and Vietnam has grown significantly in recent years. For the period 2001-2009, total trade between both countries is estimated to have risen from US$231million to US$2 billion.

 

The steady growth of bilateral trade can be attributed to various factors. Vietnam and the Philippines both have sizeable upwardly-mobile populations and growing open economies. Under the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement, of which both countries are signatories, most goods are now easily exchanged under a preferential tariff agreement, making trade less costly. The presence of some of the Philippines’ top companies in Vietnam has also facilitated the regular inflow and outflow of raw materials and finished goods between both countries. Vietnamese companies’ expansion into the Philippines in the near future is also expected to further improve trade. Some of the top Philippine products entering Vietnam include chemical products such as fertilizers and plastics, processed goods such as confectionery and food ingredients, transport products such as motor vehicle parts, minerals such as copper, paper, petroleum, animal feeds and machinery.

 

This April 22-24, the Philippines’ Centre for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM), our national trade show agency, is also bringing a delegation from the Philippine consumer and personal care industry to participate in the 3rd staging of the Cosmobeaute trade show at the SECC in Ho Chi Minh City.

 

In the Philippines, Vietnam has also found a valuable market for its rice products, as well as for other agricultural produce and garments/textiles. Vietnamese business people have been exploring the Philippine market quite aggressively in recent years.

 

Keeping our people, both from the Philippines and Vietnam, interested and excited about doing business with one another is one thing the Philippine Trade and Investment Centre in Vietnam (PTIC) hopes to cultivate and sustain. PTIC helps by gathering and sharing information, and opening doors for business people to link with one another. Moreover, we hope to encourage and challenge Filipinos and Vietnamese business people to explore previously untapped ground in doing business.

 

A vibrant exchange in goods and services between our developing countries will help spur economic activity and generate livelihood and employment for more of our people.

 

Philippine companies looking for investment and expansion opportunities in the ASEAN region were some of the first to explore Vietnam after “doi moi”. These included Vietnam Motors, San Miguel, United Pharma, Liwayway, Bio-Pharmachemie and Philippine Airlines, which early on recognized Vietnam’s cost and location advantages. Today, some Philippine companies in Vietnam already serve as manufacturing bases for other ASEAN countries such as Cambodia and Laos, and even for countries as far as the Middle East and Africa. Investing and expanding in Southeast Asian countries like Vietnam and the Philippines, became a logical route for ASEAN and non-ASEAN companies because of the single integrated and seamless market that ASEAN is evolving into.

 

In which areas have you have been able to assist companies in starting up business in Vietnam?

The PTIC upon request assists Philippine companies in getting linked up with pertinent Vietnam-based entities that can assist them in specific investment information or requirements for their planned projects in Vietnam.

 

I also have to add that the accreditation in 2009 of the Philippine Business Group in Vietnam (PBG-V), the business chamber which represents the interests of Philippine companies in Vietnam, is an important milestone in the promotion of investment ties between the Philippines and Vietnam. The accreditation of PBG-V is a testament to the seriousness of Philippine companies to build a presence in Vietnam, and the commitment of Vietnam in embracing the growing number of Philippine companies here. During networking sessions, and business missions and visits, successful stories of these Philippine companies in Vietnam continue to be spread by PBG-V to would-be investors from the Philippines who also look forward to replicating or even exceeding the level of success now enjoyed by Philippine companies, as well as expatriates who have invested their expertise and resources here in Vietnam.