FILIPINO businessmen will explore trade partnerships and opportunities in the Russian Confederation as they go on a seven day trade mission this month.
Armi L. Garcia, honorary consul of the Russian Confederation, said 16 businessmen from Cebu and Manila will make up members of the trade mission from June 14 to 22.
“We will be visiting the two major areas in Russia—Moscow and St. Petersburg, for business opportunities. We at the Philippines-Russia Business Assembly (PRBA) are doing our share in promoting the Philippines, especially in tourism,” said Garcia, who together with the PRBA organized the mission.
The PRBA was founded by Garcia in 2009 and aims to help in bridging business ties between the Philippines and Russia.
She said they have also set up a counterpart organization in Russia, which is the Russian-Philippine Business Council (RPBC) and have both signed a memorandum of agreement to engage in more business matching, education and promotion activities.
“For this visit, the RPBC will be hosting a business forum in Moscow. Delegates of the PRBA mission will be introduced to the Russian business community.”
Business matching will be conducted during the forum with some members of the delegation giving a talk about the Philippines and its economy and which areas they think Russians and Filipino businessmen can be partners.
The one-week trip will also feature various opportunities for delegates to experience the culture and sights of Russia. There will be trips to famous landmarks, churches and museums to make the members of the delegation appreciate the culture and tourism of Russia.
tourism pitch
Garcia said they will also be pushing more the country’s tourism industry complementing the aggressive promotions of the Department of Tourism in Russia.
She said the agency has recognized the large potential of the Russian tourist market.
“Last year, the number of Russian tourists that came to our country have grown over a hundred percent. These tourists are high spenders and long staying which is what the tourism agency is targeting not to mention Russians love ecotourism and adventure tourism which we have here,” said Garcia.
Tourism and culture are always the entry-point of trade and commerce which is what Garcia wants to see more between the two countries.
“While the Philippines is seeing remarkable improvements in Russian tourist arrivals, Russian investors who are keen on tourism investments and other industries like mining, food, real estate and construction, waste recycling, manufacturing and ICT (information and communications technology) are already looking at the Philippines, and we have to promote more to really encourage them to come and invest,” she said.
She said one of the activities that they will be doing regularly now is also the Meet Russia Forum which they did in Cebu in February this year and that included language training.
“That has proven really effective and we would like to do more of that in other key tourism areas. We’re thinking of Palawan and Dipolog. We’ve run the same event already in Bohol and Boracay,”
she said.
Garcia also cited the need to learn the Russian language especially for the tour guides.
“So far, we already have 14 graduates of our language lessons in partnership with USPF (University of Southern Philippines Foundation) and we’re hoping to have more,”
she said.