PH, Czech Republic eyeing greater economic cooperation

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The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on Friday said that the government is working towards greater economic cooperation with the Czech Republic, looking in particular at major industries such as agriculture, manufacturing, and healthcare industry, among others.

The DTI revealed this policy direction following the conclusion of the second joint committee meeting between Philippine and Czech trade officials in Manila last July 31.

The said meeting was chaired by Philippine trade undersecretary Allan Gepty and the Czech Republic’s Ministry of Industry and Trade Director General Eduard Muřický.

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“The Czech Republic is an important partner of the Philippines in Europe. We believe that the JCEC offers an opportunity for us to enhance not only our trade and investment relations but also achieve more concrete outcomes that would contribute to the sustainable development of our countries,” Gepty said in a statement

“The identified areas of cooperation reflect our mutual interests based on industrial strengths, technical expertise, and resource endowments,” he added.

Aside from the industries earlier mentioned, the two countries are also looking at several more industries including energy, environment, mining, transportation, information technology and business process management (IT-BPM), aerospace and space technologies, defense, education, labor, and tourism.

According to the Philippine Statistic Authority (PSA), two-way trade between the two countries reached $371.2 million in 2023.

Philippine exports to the Czech Republic amounted to $216.2 million, with the top export products being semiconductor devices, digital monolithic integrated circuits, storage units, other prepared unrecorded media for sound recording or similar recording of other phenomena, and sports footwear.

Meanwhile, imports from the central European country totaled $155 million, with aeroplanes, materials, accessories, and supplies for the manufacture of dice of any material, revolvers and pistols, electrical and electronic machinery, equipment and parts, and chandeliers and other lighting fittings as top imported products.

The DTI said that in the last ten years, the Philippines has largely maintained a trade surplus with the Czech Republic.