DFA official urges South, Latin American govts to do biz in PHL

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

THE Marcos administration will push for an aggressive economic-diplomacy stance to promote stronger trading ties with Latin American and South American countries.

Assistant Secretary Jose Victor Chan-Gonzaga of the Department of Foreign Affairs’ (DFA) Office of American Affairs said the collaboration will be one of their priorities as part of diversifying the country’s economic relationships with countries in the said regions composed of Spanish and Portuguese-speaking populations.

“Economic diplomacy’s function is to inform people that there are lots of opportunities in [the Philippines’s economic zones…and hopefully it could take a life of its] own,” Chan-Gonzaga told reporters on the sidelines of a recent visit of various ambassadors, honorary consuls and honorary vice consuls of Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Venezuela, Belize, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Haiti, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Guyana, Peru and Uruguay to the LIMA Estate of Aboitiz InfraCapital in Malvar, Batangas.

“We will also be doing a series of follow-ups in Philippine embassies in Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Mexico… Hopefully in a few months or a year’s time, we can tell you if there’s a new locator in one of our economic zones,” the DFA official said.

Bringing the different diplomats from Central America, South America and Latin America to the LIMA Estate, he added, also aims to promote the country not only as a next-generation hub, but also a zone that has livable spaces and promotes sustainability.

“We [hope to show the various consulates…our special economic zones…” the DFA official continued, “[and that the honorary consuls would write a report to the respective countries…about the opportunities, so] we can have more locators.”

The objective of the LIMA economic zone visit, according to him, is to generate interest among the diplomats and consulates, and thereby promote the area and similar hubs in the country to their respective countries.

Although the South American and Latin American markets are not yet “big” for Philippine trade, Chan-Gonzaga said the two regions are in the range between 20th- to 30th-largest trading partners of the Philippines.

“However, we can say they are starting to build a presence in the country. For instance, Brazil is the supplier of pork to Filipino food conglomerate Jollibee Food Corp.,” he explained. “Those are the things we try to encourage so they can grow their presence in the Philippines.”

Aside from expanding its trade with South American and Latin American countries, Chan-Gonzaga said the Philippines expects to see companies from the two regions to locate here.

Buenos Aires, Argentina-based agricultural firm Farmesa is one of the few South American companies that has established operations in the country. It is engaged in the development, production, and commercialization of food ingredients spanning functional, texture, nutrition and flavor systems. It recently opened a manufacturing plant, which is also in the province of Batangas.

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The Philippine Blu Girls celebrate their 6-5 victory over Italy on Tuesday—they also defeated New Zealand, 5-3, that offset a 0-3 start—to advance to the playoff round from Group C of the Softball Women’s World Cup in Castions di Strada and Buttrio, Italy. They arranged a rematch with Italy in the battle for third place in the page system playoffs with the winner facing off with the loser of the Japan-Canada playoff in the repechage for a spot in the final round to be played next year. PHOTO COURTESY OF WBSC