Growth in trade between Philippines, Sweden seen getting sustained

The Sweden and Philippine flags | STOCK PHOTOS

Growth in bilateral trade between the Philippines and Sweden is expected to continue in the coming years, with optimism stemming from the country’s growing export performance, as well as the entry of more firms from the highly developed country.

This is according to a new market report from the Swedish embassy in Manila which showed that trade between the two countries has continuously grown in the past decade at an average of 3.3% per year and a significant increase

The same report also said that trade grew at a faster pace of around 11 percent in the past three years.

READ: Sweden seeks deeper defense ties with PH

“However, there is potential to even further strengthen the relationship, as the Philippines has experienced strong export growth over the past 27 years, averaging an annual increase of 4.8 percent, which surpasses the global benchmark,” an overview of the report said.

In 2023, the Philippines’ export industry failed to reach the $126.8 billion target set under the Philippine Export Development Plan, but still managed to reach record-high levels by breaching the $100 billion mark as it secured $103.6 billion in goods and service exports.

The country’s export receipts totaled $87.97 billion in 2021, $80.03 billion in 2020, and $94.74 billion in 2019, according to records from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

Currently, Sweden is exporting $159 million worth of goods to the Philippines and importing $64 million, according to data from the Swedish in Manila.

Meanwhile, John Lennefalk, the trade commissioner of Sweden to the Philippines said that at least five new Swedish companies have expressed keen interest to enter the country.

“There are many companies that are looking for a local business partner or distribution partner,” he said, adding that he will also make a presentation to around fifty Swedish companies next week to share the business opportunities in the Philippines

“They are interested to hear about what’s happening here,” he added.

According to the Swedish embassy, there are more than 50 firms from the export-oriented country operating in the Philippines.

These firms belong to a wide range of industries, including energy, pharmaceuticals, IT-BPO, transportation, mining equipment, industrial machinery, defense, air traffic management, telecommunications, and consumer goods.