Armi Garcia-Lopez, honorary consul of the Russian Federation in the Philippines, (right) together with a Russian Federation official, holds a press briefing in Cebu City in this August 2013 filr photo. (CDN FILE)
A leader of a business organization of more than 100 companies from the Philippines and the Russian Federation offered to help the Philippine government move forward if a trade deal with the Russian Federation would be agreed upon.
Should the Philippines and Russia enter into a sort of trade agreement, Russia could help the Philippines improve its solid waste management and defense, said Armi Lopez-Garcia, who is the founding chairperson of the Philippine-Russian Business Assembly (PRBA), in a recent press briefing in Cebu City.
“They are very advanced in solid waste management. They are very ahead because Russians are very concerned about the environment. The military here could also take advantage of opportunities to improve defense. They have very good military hardware and technology, but (they) didn’t have the chance to penetrate the Philippine market,” said Garcia, who is also the honorary consul of the Russian Federation in the Philippines.
The PRBA chairperson’s offer came amid President Rodrigo Duterte’s announcement last Tuesday (Sept. 27) that he would start building “new alliances” with China and Russia by next year to cushion the fallout of a possible withdrawal of the United States from the Philippines.
“I am asking the Filipino in the coming days, if America will make good its threat, I’m going to ask you to sacrifice a little bit. But by next year, I would have entered into so many new alliances with so many countries,” said Duterte in a recent speech in Pampanga as quoted in an Inquirer report.
The Inquirer report also cited Duterte as saying that he would meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev after his trips to Vietnam and Japan.
Garcia said the business community would receive whatever progress this pronouncement would bring.
“On behalf of the Russian Consulate and the PRBA, we are very happy about this development,” said Garcia.
PRBA
The PRBA is the principal organization that drives business relations between the Philippines and the Russian Federation, boosting business by bringing governments, business chambers, and individuals together.
Its membership is comprised of over 100 companies from both countries representing various industries such as tourism and hospitality, construction, real estate, mining, BPO, transportation, finance, import and export, manufacturing, furniture, gifts, toys and houseware, green industries, oil, and energy.
Garcia said Duterte’s pronouncements is welcomed as Russia is an unexplored market and business partner.
“Way back, we really organized the PRBA to prepare for the coming of this opportunity, and, now it has come,” she said.
She added that the PRBA would convene “very soon” this year to assist the Philippine government in moving forward under the Duterte administration.
Garcia said that the PRBA had been entertaining interested businessmen in the Russian Federation who wanted to come into the Philippines, mostly to set up business in the tourism industry.
She said that with the very good impression Duterte had brought upon the Russian government, the latter would encourage more business people to come and explore business opportunities in the country.
Accessibility
At present, Garcia said the problem with Philippine-Russian tourism ties is connectivity, considering the lack of direct flights from Manila to Russia’s capital city Moscow.
“We hope there will be more players that will provide direct flights that will connect the Philippines to Moscow or to Vladivostok, which is the closest Russian city to the Philippines,” she said.
She also cited food products especially dried mango, seafood, and fresh fruits, which continued to perform well in the Russian market and emphasized the big opportunities for food exporters and encouraged them to enter the market.