Finland aims to expand economic cooperation with PHL, envoy says

FINNISH Ambassador to Manila Juha Pyykkö said he aims to rekindle the interest of Finnish investors to invest in the Philippines following the reopening of the Finland embassy in Manila in September last year.

This was relayed by Pyykkö in his virtual meeting with Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III to discuss ways on how the two countries can expand economic cooperation as Finland sees numerous opportunities in participating in the Philippines’s economic development.

The Finnish ambassador said he wants Finnish investors to “have another look at the Philippines” because of its stable economic fundamentals, positive mid-term outlook for the country’s economy, along with the reforms undertaken by the government on various areas such as corporate taxation and infrastructure development, according to a news statement issued by the Department of Finance (DOF) on Wednesday.

For his part, Dominguez said it was under the Duterte administration that the Philippines sustained its strong fiscal position, enhanced the ease of doing business, improved peace and order, and ramped up spending on infrastructure to fuel economic growth, in line with the President’s 0-to-10-point socioeconomic reform agenda.

The country’s finance chief added the socioeconomic reform agenda also includes a Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP), which is now benefiting 99 percent of individual taxpayers through savings on personal income tax payments equivalent to about a month’s salary.

He also told the Finnish ambassador that tax reforms supported the government’s infrastructure modernization program and later helped buttress the Philippines’s sound fiscal position, borrowing strategy and high investment-grade credit rating when the government needed to raise additional funds for its Covid-19 response measures.

By raising taxes on sugary beverages and “sin” products such as alcohol and tobacco, tax reform also helped fund the government’s Universal Health Care Program.

Apart from economic cooperation, Pyykkö said, Finland is also interested in cooperating with the Philippines on climate-change mitigation measures, digitalization, smart city development, education and web-based health-care services.

He suggested that the Philippines can explore Finland’s web-based tools and phenomenon-based budgeting strategy to help mobilize citizen action against the climate crisis and realize the country’s sustainable development goals.

Dominguez welcomed Finland’s offer on using web-based tools to encourage Filipinos at the grassroots level to act on measures to mitigate the climate crisis.

He also informed Pyykkö of his strong advocacy, as chairperson designate of the Climate Change Commission, on the ban against single-use plastics.

In response, the envoy congratulated Dominguez in supporting the ban on single-use plastics, adding that this would involve action down to the local level, which is what Finland has been doing as well to mitigate the impact of, and adapt to, the climate crisis.

Pyykkö also commended the Philippines’s active participation in the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action, of which, Finland was among the key initiators.

Dominguez also expressed gratitude to Pyykkö for his offer to share Finland’s knowledge on phenomenon-based budgeting, and instructed Finance Assistant Secretaries Paola Alvarez and Edita Tan to discuss this issue further with the Finnish Embassy.

Pyykkö is the first resident Ambassador of Finland to the Philippines since Finland closed its Embassy in Manila in 2012.

During the interim, Finland was represented in the Philippines by its non-resident Ambassador based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.