RP, Israel eye intensified trade relations

THE Philippines and Israel are bent on increasing trade relations, starting with finding new markets in both countries.

A memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the matter was signed this week by Isidor Gilan, director of the Israel Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines; Miguel Varela, chairman of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry; and Ran Cohen, president of the Israel-Asia Chamber of Commerce.

Under the pact, a study mission to Israel will be organized by the three chambers to explore areas of collaboration that will broaden trade and investment between the two countries.

“This development is what both countries need—create more awareness about one another, especially when it concerns business opportunities. I believe that with such steps from these three chambers, the trade relations between Israel and Philippines will grow despite the economic turmoil,” said Zvi Vapni, Israel’s Ambassador to the Philippines.

In an e-mail sent to The Manila Times, Vapni lamented the low trade relations between the two countries, saying that the there are a lot of untapped business opportunities.

“Given the fact that more than 90 percent of Filipinos are Christians and more than 80 percent of which are Catholic, it is quite amazing that only a few thousands of them are visiting Israel every year. At the same token, tens of thousands of Israelis visit Thailand and every year only a few thousands are visiting the Philippines,” the envoy pointed out.

Vapni also revealed that Israel is one of the world’s leaders when it comes to agriculture technologies, which could be of very good use to a country like the Philippines whose basic food is rice.

“Some Israeli companies in this field are active in the Philippines, but considering the size of the agricultural sector, the potential is still enormous,” he said.

“Besides, there is no reason why people in Israel should not have more fruits, fish coming from the Philippines. On the other side, more stores in Manila and Cebu should have wine, chocolate, clothing or cosmetic products from Israel,” he added.

Vapni also cited the opportunities in business process outsourcing, more popularly known as call centers, that fuels the engine of the Israel economy.

“Israeli companies are looking for good locations for their call centers around the world and in some cases they are also in search for location in which to produce their product abroad. The Philippines is more than suitable on those matters,” he said.

Big and infrastructure companies from Israel are also active in Asia, South America, and Africa according to the envoy, and that given the number of infrastructure projects here in the Philippines, whether private or government, he wants to see more projects undertaken by Israeli companies here.

“There are more areas in which we can enhance business activities between the two countries. Needless to say, that in almost any of the abovementioned sectors, we create jobs for Filipinos and bring money to the Philippines,” he explained.

The main challenge, according to Vapni, is to change the image and concept in both Philippines and Israel about business with one another.

“And this is exactly what we are trying to do through the chambers here and in Israel,” he said. –Llanesca T. Panti, Reporter, Manila Times