Invest more in Philippines, Russian businessmen told

MOSCOW – As he wrapped up his five-day visit, President Duterte on Friday urged Russian investors to come to the Philippines and enjoy competitive incentives that have inspired “record-breaking” investments.

“We invite because we feel that investors have shown a strong trust and confidence in my administration with record-breaking investments. We invite our Russian friends to invest and do more business in the Philippines,” Duterte said.

“We offer competitive fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to jumpstart qualified investment projects from infancy to maturity of business operations,” he said.

The Philippines, he pointed out, is determined to work with Russia to expand trade.

“We signed cooperation agreements in the aerospace, automotive infrastructure, energy and pharmaceutical industries,” he said.

“These are mutually beneficial for both our countries. Our efforts to revitalize bilateral relations are bearing fruit. Very recently, two or more Philippine fishery establishments gained accreditation to export to Russia and to other Eurasian markets,” Duterte added.

In his speech, Duterte thanked President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev for allowing the increased trade partnerships, which would create more jobs for Filipinos.

“In the coming days, we are determined to bring more of our food products to Russia. Just last week, we had a delegation of 14 top Filipino companies to the world-renowned World Food Moscow in 2019 fair,” he said.

“In the coming years we hope that more and more Russians will get to enjoy our top quality export products,” Duterte added.

He also discussed with Russian businessmen the Philippines’ effort to reform its tax system by introducing the Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Rationalization Act (CITIRA), which is pending in Congress.

Earlier, Duterte laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers before going on a tour of the Kremlin with his entourage.

At the Philippines-Russia business forum, the President told select Russian investors of “income tax holiday that exempts the company from the payment of the 30 percent corporate earning tax from four to six years from the start of commercial operations.”

He also talked about “additional bonus for three years subject to certain conditions such as export earnings, labor generation and the use of indigenous materials.”

“The trip of the President was very productive, and this agreement is one of many that will benefit Philippine business interests, especially those that are based in Mindanao,” said Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles.

He witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Century Pacific Food and Russian partners Magnit Food Retail Chain and LLC Dalpromryba.

Nograles pointed out that the Philippine fisheries industry has shown promise this year, with fisheries output up by 1.51 percent in the first six months.

“As a son of Mindanao, I consider the MOUs a big win not just for tuna producers but for Mindanao, as the region is the source of 90 percent of tuna produced by our country. This is an industry that creates jobs and annual direct revenues of $400 million. In General Santos City alone, the industry directly employs 25,000 workers,” he said.

According to Nograles, even before the country’s official delegation left for Russia, the government had already made it clear that one of its priorities was to explore business opportunities for the country’s growing tuna industry.

Nograles said that the government expects the whole Philippine tuna industry, not just Century Pacific Food, to benefit from the trade agreements, as “the ultimate objective is to open the door, to enter a new and promising market.”

“Today the Philippines is the top tuna-exporting country to Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom. Collectively we export 171,452 metric tons of tuna to these three markets each year, the equivalent of $492 million,” said Nograles.

“Russia has the 6th largest economy in the world and a population of 146 million people, so the potential is there. The Philippine tuna industry will profit immensely if we are able to maximize our entry into the Russian market, and one of the immediate beneficiaries will be Mindanao,” he said.

Doors opened

In an interview with Philippine media, Communications Operations Office Secretary Martin Andanar said President Duterte’s Russia trip has opened new doors for the Philippines in many areas.

“Russia is a beautiful place, it has good scenery. We need to pursue the shift of policy to see this part of the world,” said Andanar.

Andanar told Russian news channel RT International that there is no pressure for the country to be tighter in its relations with the superpower.

“There’s no pressure at all. You know, we live in very interesting times. We have a new world order and every time there is change there will always be resistance but the Philippines will continue to walk down the path of the independent foreign policy,” Andanar said.

He echoed President Duterte’s stance that the Philippines continues to respect its traditional Western allies.

“We have the mutual defense treaty with the United States of America and the same way we will foster our relationship with China and Russia,” he added.

Following the talks between Duterte and Russian President Vladimir Putin where they agreed on better defense cooperation, Andanar revealed the country has been in talks with non-North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) states, including Israel, for drones and South Korea for naval ships. Duterte and his delegation earlier inspected Russian helicopters.

Aside from military assistance, Andanar said the country also has trade relations with Russia, particularly on oil, seaweeds and other goods and services.

Andanar also took the chance to thank Russia for its assistance during the Marawi siege and the country’s war on drugs.

“You can also say that during the time when we had this crisis in Marawi, the Russian government has been very helpful in solving the problem of ISIS in our country. We are also talking about solving drug problems and other transnational crimes,” he said.