Canadian businessmen to visit Philippines for trade prospects

MANILA, Philippines — A delegation of 300 business leaders from Canada is set to visit the country next month to check out opportunities, in line with the Canadian government’s thrust to diversify trade.

In a press briefing yesterday, Guy Boileau, senior trade commissioner at the Canadian embassy said the delegation, to be led by Canada’s Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development Mary Ng, will have representatives from over 180 organizations from 17 different sectors and will be in the Philippines from Dec. 4 to 6, after its Jakarta stop.

“This is the biggest Team Canada trade mission that we have done. So it’s bigger than (the trade mission in) Japan, it’s bigger than Korea, right? And why is that? It speaks to the interests of Canadians in Canada at large to engage with the Philippines,” he said.

The delegation is composed of approximately 60 percent small and medium enterprises and 20 to 30 percent large Canadian companies and will focus on the following sectors: food security or agriculture, clean technology, infrastructure, and information and communication technologies.

Companies engaged in defense and aerospace as well as education will also be part of the delegation.

Boileau said the Philippines is becoming an attractive market for Canadian firms due to its growing economy, with the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) projected to grow by around six to 6.5 percent next year until 2026.

He said the Philippines is also being considered by Canadian businesses as a hub for servicing other countries in the region given its English-speaking, young and tech-savvy population.

“The other reason is that we have seen over the past few years some significant economic reforms that started at the tail end of the Duterte administration and we have seen the implementation with the Marcos administration,” he said, citing the Public Service Act (PSA) amendment, Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy (CREATE MORE), the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Code and the New Government Procurement Act.

The amended PSA opened key sectors including renewable energy to full foreign ownership while CREATE MORE clarified taxation rules and introduced enhancements to the incentives system.

The PPP Code addresses challenges affecting the implementation of PPPs, while the New Government Procurement Act seeks to enhance transparency in government procurement.

“So those are all very positive signals to international investors, to exporters, including those in Canada, that at the end of the day are looking for a stable and predictable business environment and what we have seen over the past few years is that the Philippines is indeed going in that direction,” he said.

He also said the Canadian government is helping Canadian firms tap opportunities in global markets to diversify trade.

Around 65 to 70 percent of Canada’s GDP is linked to international trade.

“The more opportunities we offer Canadian companies to tap into global markets, the better it is and the safer it is in terms of supply chain security,” Boileau said.