The Philippines and Indonesia could further explore opportunities to increase their trade and investments, as the groundwork for it has always been present, according to a Davao-based business organization.
During the “Reconnecting Manado-Davao Trade Cooperation” virtual forum on Thursday, John Tria, president of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc., said that since his region and Indonesia had established trade ties in the past, the opportunity to reconnect and build on them was already there.
To emphasize this, he cited a memorandum of cooperation signed in 2012 that supports a proposed roll-on, roll-off service linking Davao, General Santos City and the Indonesian city of Bitung. Various outbound trade missions to both Jakarta and North Sulawesi, which includes the city of Manado, have been initiated to identify prospective traders who could use the service’s route.
“An open route will provide greater access for local businessmen to engage in international trade [and] create employment opportunities, as well as stimulate other areas of development, such as joint tourism promotion,” Tria said.|
Besides agricultural products, Davao is also a growing center of education and medical services, according to the Davao chamber chief.
“Other opportunities are [those in] the IT-BPM (information technology-business process outsourcing) sector and the digital economy. In the Philippines, we are a big provider of [BPO] services and we also have high participation on online platforms,” Tria said.
“Davao is also an export gateway to East Asian countries, like Japan, China, South Korea and…Russia. These areas of opportunities should be explored further,” he added.
In the real estate sector, new townships, economic zones and industrial estates have been established in the city, which Tria believes “can be a good opportunity” for many businessmen in Davao and Manado “to look at joint ventures and joint business opportunities.”
He urged businesses from both countries to maximize using online platforms to explore other areas of cooperation, as “virtual meetings have become more acceptable as a means of collaboration.”
“We have seen an opportunity in online communication. Let us continue pushing this. Increased cooperation will enhance connectivity further,” Tria said.