A SENIOR Filipino diplomat has urged the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) to adhere to the changing global economic architecture that requires full support to developing countries amid the world food crisis.

Philippine Foreign Undersecretary for Policy Enrique Manalo led a high-level panel on trade and development trends during the 55th session of the trade and development board (TDB) of Unctad held last week in Geneva.

The TDB is the main consultative and legislative mechanism of the Unctad, the UN body charged with advancing the nexus between trade and development.

Manalo has emphasized on the need to assist developing countries to advance their productive capacities by strengthening their business sectors. These include promotion of small and medium enterprises.

“By assisting small business sectors in developing countries, these countries will significantly achieve the targets of the Millennium Development Goals  [MDGs],” said Manalo in a statement over the weekend. The MDGs are eight time-bound goals that seek to halve global poverty incidence by 2015.

Meanwhile, a Philippine business delegation, led by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza), will meet with leaders of the business community in several German provinces to promote Philippine services and microfinance.

The business delegation, led by Peza director general Lilia de Lima, will meet with the German business communities in Baden-Wurttemberg, Munich and North Rhine Westphalia to discuss business opportunities in the Philippines. The visit will take place from October 12 to 17.

Among the business opportunities to be featured include the service sector as an emerging industry in the Philippines.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said that as of 2006, the industry has generated $3.3 billion in revenues, contributed 2 per cent to national GDP and employed 235,000 people.

“The Philippines is now one of the top destinations for O&O [offshoring and outsourcing] services in the world, with a 5-percent market share. At the events in Munich and Stuttgart, the delegation will highlight Philippine competitiveness in this sector, with emphasis on software, gaming, publishing and call-center services,” said a DFA statement.

The delegation will also visit the Frankfurt Book Fair to explore the possibility of business matching with other foreign companies participating in the fair.

The DFA also said  the delegation will discuss microfinance opportunities during the visit in North Rhine Westphalia.

Microfinance is one of the possibilities discussed by the honorary consuls of these German provinces during their visit to the Philippines last April. Microfinance projects aim to provide employment and encourage entrepreneurship for the less fortunate sectors in the Philippines.

The delegation will also discuss other areas of the Philippine economy, which offer opportunities for the German business sector, such as economic zones, energy and business-process outsourcing and information technology.

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RP envoy urges Unctad to back developing countries facing world food crisis

A SENIOR Filipino diplomat has urged the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) to adhere to the changing global economic architecture that requires full support to developing countries amid the world food crisis.