MORE and more Filipino and Chinese enterprises showed interest to jointly explore business opportunities on the back of the improving ties between Manila and Beijing, as around 230 of them agreed to reach and sign an agreement during Bank of China’s (BOC) SME Cross-Border Trade and Investment Conference held at the Manila Hotel on March 18.
The attendees comprised at least 77 percent of over 350 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from the Philippines and 320 from China that participated in the matchmaking event.
This formed part of BOC’s service to allow small- scale Philippine companies to interconnect with their Chinese counterparts and enjoin them in the global value chain.
“Our partnership with the Philippines aims to open opportunities for local businesses and bridge markets across the globe,” said Deng Jun, country head of BOC Philippines. “By promoting trade, we hope to accelerate growth for both our countries.”
With the positive turnout of the conclave attended by a great number of representatives from both sides, it indicated a bullish expectation for trade cooperation between the two Asian countries, Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang said.
He also noted the attendance as a vote of confidence for friendship of the two allied nations.
Meanwhile, President Duterte, in his taped video to the forum, lauded the organizers of the event for giving the SMEs the right platform to forge agreements as far as business is concerned.
Among Duterte’s major platforms during his presidential campaign was to promote small-scale businesses in the country to become the future big companies in the Philippines. This is in line with his commitment to solve poverty and address inequality, thus bringing prosperity to all Filipinos.
Sharing the same thoughts with the Chief Executive was Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez, who said the business-matching initiative “certainly bodes well for the micro, small and medium enterprises [MSMEs], as it provides them with the right business environment to grow and develop.”
He said MSMEs serve as the backbone of the economy, as they account for 99.6 percent of all enterprises operating in the country, contributing about 70 percent of employment and 35 percent of gross value-added products and services into the economy.
“This is the reason we in [DTI] the Department of Trade and Industry put great emphasis on generating and promoting more MSME empowerment, very much aligned with the direction of President Duterte,” he said.
Given the support of their Chinese counterparts, he said local MSMEs will be able to seize opportunities in the current global market.
This business-matching initiative, he said, showed how far the Philippines’s and China’s relationship has broadened with prior commitments now showing tangible results.
“This forum is really a huge milestone and a great improvement,” Lopez said. “This activity signals the exciting times we live in. It indicates that our two countries are committed to reopening and renewing their strong ties of friendship.”
The recent gathering was the 29th leg of the conference conducted globally, with participation of SMEs involved in food processing, building materials, furniture, agriculture, fisheries, e-commerce and information technology, construction equipment, textile and garments, iron and steel, tourism and real estate.
For the last 28 editions of the matchmaking process, BOC has so far achieved an average success rate of “20 percent”.
In January 2017 alone the bank gathered 350 Filipino firms and 332 Chinese companies together, created 640 potential matches and conducted 69 video conferences.
Rather than using traditional methods of attracting investments, the BOC employs either a “one-on-one” or “one-to-more” ways of negotiation and connection.
The six-step process includes establishing a database, customer matching, remote online matchmaking, one-to-one meeting, onsite survey and banking service.
The efforts of BOC fall under the forged Strategic Cooperation Agreement with the DTI, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industries, and the International Chamber of Commerce, Philippines, as witnessed by Duterte during his visit to China on October 21, 2016.
The agreement comes along with the Chinese bank’s pledge to open a $3-billion credit facility to aid in the development of Philippine industries and infrastructure.