By Justine Irish D. Tabile, Reporter
THE Australian Embassy in the Philippines is expecting an increase in two-way trade and investments amid a surge in interest from Australian companies.
“I think there is lots of room for further increase to our two-way trade and investment. And Australian companies are very excited about the Philippines,” Australian Ambassador to the Philippines Hae Kyong Yu said on the sidelines of the Philippines-Australia Friendship Festival.
She said that the embassy had been getting more inquiries from Australian firms about trade and investment opportunities in the Philippines.
“You will be seeing more and more Australian investment coming into the Philippines, and hopefully more and more trade between our two countries. Absolutely, we are seeing a real surge in interest and, frankly, in tangible outcomes as well,” she added.
Asked which industries Australian companies are interested in, she said prospective investors will seek to play to Australia’s strengths.
“Those sectors include things like agri-food, we have fantastic produce at very good prices. Other areas that we are focusing on are green energy because that is really important for the Philippines, as well as education,” she said.
“Australia has a fantastic education system. And what is really exciting is that we are exploring different ways to not only take Filipino students to Australia but actually (pursue) transnational education,” she added.
She said the transnational education allows Filipino students to qualify both in Australia and the Philippines.
She said Australian firms are also looking at investing in the Philippine mining and digital economy industries.
“We’ve achieved our prosperity largely thanks to our mining sector, and we want to work with the Philippines to help you really explore the mining sector in a way that is environmentally sustainable and where the profits are shared with the communities as well,” she said.
“We all know President Marcos has a big ambition to digitalize the whole Philippines and ensure that Filipinos are all connected online. And through that, Australian companies have a lot to offer in terms of services and cybersecurity in the digital economy,” she added.
She said that the Australian embassy is coming up with a mining investment and trade mission in the second half of the year.
“There will always be plenty of business missions. We are in fact organizing a mining business mission in the second half of the year,” she said.
“That is actually still being developed. But I suspect certainly every time we do one of these business missions, we have at least 20 to 30 Australian companies coming to the Philippines as part of the mission,” she added.
She said the embassy has been active in pursuing relationships in mining following the lifting of the Philippine ban on new mineral agreements in 2021.
“Australia has a particular interest in it because we are good at mining, and we have a track record in showing the Philippines how mining can be done so that it’s sustainable and responsible and the profits are shared with the community,” she said.