PH-EU trade remains resilient, says envoy

EU Ambassador Guy Ledoux. INQUIRER file photo

MANILA, Philippines—Trade between the Philippines and the European Union (EU) has remained resilient amid the current global economic downturn, according to trade data released by the EU, which is the Philippines’ largest source of foreign direct investments (FDIs).

Guy Ledoux, EU Ambassador to the Philippines, said trade between the EU and the Philippines has “stabilized at its pre-crisis level” of 9.1 billion euros, or about P488 billion, citing figures from the EU-Philippines Trade Factfile of 2011.

The factfile showed that while the country’s exports of information technology (IT) products to the EU declined by 10 percent in 2011, exports of agricultural products increased by 13 percent to 841 million euros (about P45 billion).

“Other manufactures and notably agricultural trade have been growing in importance, specifically exports in coconut, oil, fruits, and fishery products,” a statement from the EU said.

The factfile also showed that EU exports to the country increased by 6 percent in 2011, while exports to other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) reflected an increase of up to 26 percent.

EU also remained as the country’s No. 1 source of FDIs, with total stock of investments rising by 16 percent to nearly eight billion euros (P429 billion), reflecting 30 percent of total FDI stock in the country.

“…[T]here is substantial room for further boosting investment relations, as the Philippines has received only four percent of the 193 billion euros (P10.3 trillion) stock of EU direct investments in the Asean region as of 2010,” the EU statement said.

EU also remained as the second-largest source of remittances to the country, with Filipino migrants living and working in the EU as well as Filipino seafarers manning European ships sending 2.8 billion euros (P150 billion), in 2011.

“The European Union was also the fifth-largest host of land-based migrant Filipinos in 2010 and is one of the largest employers of Filipino seafarers,” the statement noted.

In 2011, the EU was the fifth-largest source of tourists as it sent 318,000 visitors to the Philippines.