EUROPE-PH News

Shell recently published the Marikina City Resilience Study, the first in the Asia Pacific, which tackled challenges and opportunities posed by urbanisation.

There is a whole lot of multi-cooperation between our two countries. We have also assisted the Philippines in disaster preparedness and on humanitarian laws," Sieber said. He added: "There is a trade imbalance but the Philippines is slowly catching up because of its diversified exports to Switzerland."

Business leaders like John Forbes of the American Chamber of Commerce and European Chamber of Commerce vice president Henry Schumacher said they would have wanted the President to talk more on future challenges the country will face, citing recommendations submitted by the Joint Foreign Chambers and the Philippine Business Groups to accelerate infrastructure projects and ensure massive job generation.

A further slump in the inflow of foreign direct investments (FDIs) in the Philippines looms in the coming months unless the government eases its restrictive policies, the country’s largest business organization said.

The Philippines is clearly Asia’s present economic star. But, the Institute of International Finance (IIF) says our domestic economy failed to soar to its full potential due to the slow rollout of projects under President Aquino’s pet program Public Private Partnership (PPP).

In a July 14 letter to Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima, the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) nonetheless said it “commends the DOF (Department of Finance) on joining forces with the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs to strengthen government efforts to increase transparency on tax and custom duty payments and consequently a level-playing fled for business.”

'We meet with them every month and ECCP Vice President Henry Schumacher is a lead figure. We work together. It is logical since we are both from Europe,' Nelson said.

Henry Schumacher, vice president and general manager of the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, told the Inquirer: “There is no way to tear (Torre de Manila) down. (DMCI) received all the permits. (I would advise that the) building be finished, then have a huge Philippine flag from top to bottom facing the Rizal monument, and make sure no other building permits are granted there or close to Intramuros.”

The EU biopharmaceutical industry supports ASEAN and its member countries’ trade, health, and regulatory reforms that promote the free flow of goods for consumers and ensures quality, efficacy, and safety of pharmaceuticals. However, challenges exist.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) is a key component of resource flows to Asean countries. Over the last decade, FDI flows into Asean members grew at an annual average rate of 19 percent.

“We have been asking for a level-playing field for foreign investors for decades; some adjustments have happened but the Philippines remains less friendly to foreign investors than competing countries (Vietnam is taking advantage of this),” said Henry Schumacher, executive vice president of the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines .

Aquino’s final Sona dwelled heavily on his administration’s achievements on the economic front, including several credit rating upgrades from international debt watchers, unprecedented growth of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), as well as rapid job creation, among other achievements.