Miti: Explore opportunities in the Philippines
MANILA: The International Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti) has urged Malaysian corporations to explore new business avenues and collaborations with partners in the Philippines, a country currently undergoing rapid growth transformation.
During a working visit to Manila, International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said the Malaysia-Philippines Business Council (MPBC) was revived in 2014 after a period of inactivity to facilitate more business and economic activities between the companies of both countries.
During a meeting between the representatives of the MPBC and the Philippines-Malaysia Business Council (PMBC) in Manila yesterday, Miti recommended the establishment of a five-year blueprint to encourage the growing trade relationship between Malaysia and the Philippines.
This will complement existing initiatives as well as provide concrete benchmarks for measuring the growth in economic and business activities in the Philippines, said Mustapa.
“The Philippines is a country with a large population and strong trade growth. With more developments on the horizon with Malaysian partners, we foresee more opportunities for the export of Malaysian goods and services in the coming years,” he said.
The representatives for the MPBC during the meeting included the Malaysia External Trade Development Corp or Matrade, the Halal Development Corp, AlloyMtd Group, the Asian Institute of Management and Muhibbah Engineering Bhd.
AlloyMtd’s president and chief executive officer Tan Sri Dr Azmil Khalid told reporters that the company had benefited from its ties to the country and would continue to do so with more projects in the pipeline. The company is currently bidding for about RM15bil worth of projects in the Philippines.
“We want to continue to take part in the Philippines’ growth and the growing affluence of its people. These ventures will also lead to new job creation and new economic opportunities for the people,” said Azmil, who also serves as MPBC chairman.