Czech Embassy convenes business groups for economic cooperation

THE Embassy of the Czech Republic in Manila successfully hosted the “2023 Business Conference and B2B Event” on February 15, in partnership with the Czech Chamber of Commerce and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry,

The first installment of a series of business conferences this year was one of the highlights of a Czech delegation’s visit to the Philippines led by deputy speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Jan Skopeček who formally opened the event. He was accompanied by vice president of the Czech Chamber of Commerce Michal Štefl.

The event gathered more than 80 business leaders from various industries and organizations nationwide.

President George Barcelon of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry highlighted the group is inclined to link the Czech Chamber of Commerce to private and public sectors in the country. He pointed out that “creating opportunities like these can boost…two-way trade and investments.”

Meanwhile, Štefl shared that their side is keen on expanding their business engagements beyond European markets, especially in the Philippines which is considered by Czech companies as a great, potential haven of investments.

Said companies who were also part of the business mission from Czechia included AŽD Praha, CREA Hydro&Energy, Crocodile ČR, Elektro SMS, Export Guarantee and Insurance Corporation, GRAPECARE LTD, PERSPEKTIVA Znojmo, Prague Investment Corp., SaZ, IPOLT CZ, WASTen, DODEX, Enress, ESSENCE LINE, and CzechTrade.

Further, the chamber identified the technology, transportation, and energy sectors as their key priority areas in forging business linkages in the Philippines.

Czech firms were also briefed of the current business climate in the Philippines and the opportunities that come with such. Director Lanie Dormiendo from the Board of Investments (BOI)-International Investments Promotions Service Department announced that the country is the second-fastest growing economy in Asean with an estimated 6.3-percent gross domestic product growth for 2023. The BOI also identified four pri- ority industry clusters from 2022 to 2028, namely industrial, manufacturing and transport; technology, media and telecommunications; as well as health and life sciences.

In a statement, the Czech Embassy noted that the Philippine government has passed laws such as the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act, or “CREATE,” and other legislation as efforts to boost ease of doing business in the country, geared toward beefing up foreign-direct investments in strategic local industries.

Director Ondřej Puchinger of the CzechTrade Phils., for his part, introduced his team as a governmen- tal trade-promotion organization founded by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. He announced that they expect to bring in about 30 to 50 new partners in 2023 with collaboration from local associations and business clubs.

The organization, Puchinger said, is focused on developing international trade and cooperation between Czech exporters and Philippine partners.

After the presentations, the attendees introduced their affiliations and networked in search for possible business partnerships. The conference also served as a platform for representatives from the government, chambers, and business leaders from energy and waste management, railway, infrastructure, manufacturing, manpower, architecture, defense, and media industries to discuss new trends and opportunities for both countries that may arise as the year unfolds.

The second part of the business conference-B2B event was held the following day in Davao City, in cooperation with the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the City Government of Davao.

PRAISES FOR A POET The City of Manila and the Moscow Delegation headed by Minister Sergey Cheremin (center) led a wreath-laying ceremony in honor of Russian poet Alexander Pushkin late in January at the Mehan Garden. Ambassador of the Russian Federation Marat Pavlov (right), with District 2 Councilor and chair of the Committee on International Relations Numero Lim (left), accompanied the minister as they paid their respects to the national poet of Russia. KR DE ASIS/MPIO

Phil. Chamber, biz council, Casa Asia stage 9th Spain-PHL Forum

THE Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), through its Philippines-Spain Business Council (PSBC) and Casa Asia, in coordination with the Spanish Embassy in the Philippines and the Philippine Embassy in Spain, held the Spain Forum’s ninth edition at the Instituto Cervantes in Madrid from February 5 to 8.

The forum has been a platform for dialogue between the two countries, launched to promote annual meetings by their delegations to strengthen bilateral ties in fields of common interest.

The Philippine government fully supported the gathering, which saw the participation of Ambassador Eduardo Jose de Vega, Transportation Undersecretary Timothy John

Batan and Energy Undersecretary Sharon Garin.

With optimistic plans for the Philippine economic growth, the participating government agencies shared that the country is ripe for more foreign investments.

The business sector was also wellrepresented in the two-day forum, as PCCI-PSBC chair for International Affairs Jude Aguilar and PSBC chair Jose Antonio Ibazeta led the former’s delegation.

Among government officials in the forum were company heads in various sectors, and members of the academe from both countries. Said the organizers, the forum brought the Philippines and Spain closer not only on the economic and diplomatic ends, but also on the social and cultural fronts.

Nordic nations lead initiatives for carbon-neutrality in

CONTINUING their commitments of enhancing the Declaration on Nordic Carbon Neutrality under their Council of Ministers, the embassies of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden in the Philippines held the Nordic-Philippine Climate Executive Dialogue on February 16, as they offered sustainable and innovative solutions against climate change, and facilitated public-private networks and partnerships for climate actions.

The high-level business and environment event gathered national- and local-government officials, business CEOs, renowned leaders and climate advocates of local business associations.

The four Nordic ambassadors: Franz-Michael Mellbin of the Royal Danish Embassy, Juha Pyykko of the Finnish Embassy, Christian Halaas Lyste of the Royal Norwegian Embassy and Annika Thunborg of Swedish Embassy lead the high-level dialogues, and