OVERSEAS FILIPINOS A ‘READY MARKET’
Canadian Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines president Julian Payne says some 800,000 Filipinos live in Canada and would be potential buyers of Philippine exports
Cebu, a province that is blessed with agricultural resources, has a ready market in Canada, said a top official of a foreign business chamber.
In an interview yesterday, Julian Payne, president of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (CanCham), said that if Cebu is looking for an overseas market to sell its food and agricultural products, it should consider tapping the 37 million Canadians as a potential market.
“There is a huge potential for the Philippines to grow its exports to Canada,” said Payne, referring to the 800,000-strong Filipino community in Canada, whom he says are already a guaranteed market.
Cebu is known for being abundant in agricultural commodities such as sweet corn, rice, coconut, sugarcane, vegetables, fruits, camote, cassava and spices.
The town of Dalaguete in the southern part of Cebu is the province’s “vegetable basket,” which supplies fruits, vegetables, and other crops to the province’s marketplaces.
Payne said coffee, cacao and virgin coconut oil are among the high-value crops that have a huge demand in Canada. Dried mangoes and other dried fruits also record high consumption among Canadians.
To help link Filipino companies and entrepreneurs to Canada’s booming economy, Payne announced that the chamber will be mounting an outbound trade mission to Canada on Oct. 20 to 27 in Toronto and Ottawa.
The sixth business mission aims to help Filipino entrepreneurs learn about the market opportunities in Canada and its regulatory landscape. It also aims to strengthen the economic ties of both countries through building connections with the business communities in Canada.
Sectors in focus for the business mission are agribusiness, food and related industries.
Payne said they picked Toronto and Ottawa because of the large concentration of Filipinos in these two cities.
The delegation will spend four days in Toronto so the delegates can attend the two big summits—Grocery Innovations Canada, an exhibit organized by the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers, and the Food Regulatory and Quality Assurance summit, which features interactive panel sessions and networking breaks to discuss in detail the Canadian regulatory landscape.
“These two summits are major opportunities for the Philippines to export its products,” said Payne.
Payne admitted isn’t a major a trading partner of the Philippines yet, but he believes the trade missions to this country would boost and strengthen the trade ties of both economies.
He added the upcoming trade mission is also an opportunity for the Philippines to learn about Canada’s federal form of government, the CanCham official said. /