US group sends trade delegation to Manila

The Philippine-American Chamber of Commerce (PACC) based in the United States has sent a 12-member business mission to the country—the first time in about eight years—to explore anew various investment opportunities here.

PACC president Michael Nierva, who led the delegation, cited as a reason for their return the good news they had been receiving about the Philippines, such as the stock market returns, the upgrade in investment ratings by agencies such as Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch, and the strong growth of the local economy.

It is thus a good “time to convince US companies to do business in the Philippines,” said Nierva, who works as managing director at J.P. Morgan in New York.

Nierva said in a statement issued by the Department of Trade and Industry that the government was looking to get more US companies to do the front office work in the Philippines, and go beyond the voice services.

Joining the PACC delegation were representatives of the entrepreneurship, health care, financial, import and export, and social advocacy sectors.

The group was set to meet with executives of local and multinational companies, financial institutions, potential business partners, as well as leaders and officials of the Philippine Stock Exchange, American Chamber of Commerce, Joint Foreign Chambers, US Department of Commerce, Makati Business Club, Department of Foreign Affairs, Philippine Disaster Recovery Foundation, and Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP).

The PACC is composed of different sectors such as arts and entertainment, energy and natural resources, entrepreneurship, financial, healthcare, import and export, legal, manufacturing, retail and hospitality, social advocacy, student and youth, and technology.

The chamber used to regularly carry out trade missions to the Philippines, but it did not dispatch a delegation to the country in about seven or eight years.

Data from the US Trade Representative showed that the Philippines was the United States’ 34th largest goods export market in 2013, the value of which stood at $8.4 billion—up 4.2 percent from that of a year ago.

Top export categories included electrical machinery, worth $2.6 billion; machinery, worth $832 million; cereals and wheat worth $640 million; and aircraft, worth $610 million.

US exports of agricultural products to the Philippines reached $2.5 billion in 2013. Leading categories included wheat worth $624 million, soybean meal worth $606 million, dairy products worth $364 million, and pork and pork products worth $112 million.

The Philippines, meanwhile, was the United States’ 36th largest supplier of goods in 2013, which totaled $9.3 billion.

The five largest import categories in 2013 were electrical machinery worth $3.4 billion; machinery worth $1.6 billion; knit apparel worth $627 million; and woven apparel worth $505 million, among others.

The US goods trade deficit with the Philippines stood at $862 million in 2013, while its services trade deficit reached $1.2 billion in 2012.

Foreign direct investments from the United States to the Philippines stood at $4.6 billion in 2012—down 3.7 percent from 2011. These investments were made mostly in the local manufacturing sector. Amy R. Remo