Philippines looks to Qatar to bolster export market

A Filipino business group here is looking towards Qatar as a partner to develop the Philippines’ export market, even as President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday assured, during his first state of the nation address, to create a stronger economy and to develop labour-intensive industries.
In his 90-minute speech, the newly-elected president from the Southern Philippine island of Mindanao said reforms will be mandatory “to ensure competitiveness and promote ease of doing business.”
“Reacting to these needs, the restrictions on the economy will be needed to make more investments to come and to develop labour-intensive industries such as manufacturing, agriculture, and tourism shall be pursued,” Duterte stressed.
Asked about the significance of the Duterte administration’s programmes on Qatar-Philippines bilateral relations, Philippine Business Council-Qatar (PBC-Q) chairman Greg Loayon said: “My view is that Qatar and Qatari investors can be a partner in growing the export market of the country, where producers are situated in the Central and Southern Philippines.”
“Other than agricultural exports, there is opportunity in textiles, jewellery and accessories, furniture, and seafood, among many others,” Loayon told Gulf Times on Thursday.
On transportation and infrastructure, Duterte said his administration will pursue rail projects in Metro Manila and other key-points in the Philippines, which include the Mindanao Rail Project, Davao Transit System, Cebu Transit System, the North and South Luzon Railways, and the Panay Railways Project.
Loayon said: “There’s also potential in working with the government to support the president’s infrastructure focus for the Visayas and Mindanao areas through public-private partnership (PPP) agreements.”
“As an example, a contingent from Cebu City visited Qatar in January this year for talks of a ropeway/cable car project,” said Loayon, referring to the trade mission led by Cebu City vice mayor Edgardo Labella, who presented the Aerial Ropeway Transport project to potential Qatari investors.
During the presentation, Loayon said the Qatari investors “expressed keen interest” in the project – a PPP initiated by R3 Industrial Solutions Enterprises, and was patterned after the mass-transit cable-car system established by Austrian company Doppelmayr in Bolivia.
In terms of infrastructure projects, Loayon noted that there are other business propositions that could benefit from an infusion of capital from a private entity that may have an appetite for similar projects and PPP schemes.
“Other infrastructure and national housing projects are also in focus and so, the PBC-Q is looking to engage in talks with Qatari and other foreign investors in these areas, as well,” Loayon said.