Philippine suppliers eye ASEAN OEMs as partners

Philippine electronics suppliers are eyeing major original electronic manufacturers from the ASEAN in the forthcoming ASEAN Electronics Business Opportunities Exhibition and Conference (AE-BOEC), a whole day conference and reverse trade fair featuring major buyers from the ASEAN as presenters and exhibitors.

“This unique scenario gives our local suppliers for consumer electronics, electronic data processing, electronic manufacturing, and semi-conductor industries a chance to meet the major ASEAN buyers face to face and offer their new products and manufacturing capabilities in one venue,” said Trade Assistant Secretary Fe Agoncillo-Reyes, executive director of the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM).

The event, which coincides with the 12th ASEAN Summit and the ASEAN Electronics Business Leaders Meeting to be held in Cebu City, is also part of the ASEAN efforts to facilitate the integration of its electronics industries, Agoncillo-Reyes also said.

AE-BOEC is slated on 07 December at the Rizal Ballroom of the Makati Shangri-La Hotel.

One of the highlights of AE-BOEC is the ASEAN Electronics Reverse Trade Fair (AE-RTF) where suppliers can walk through a host of large electronic companies from the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia, and get first hand information on the products, materials, and services, which the ASEAN buyers intend to procure.

AE-RTF also involves promoting the intra-ASEAN trade through a single production and supply base for all electronics products, discovering supply chain benefits, such as competitive pricing and turn-around time, and exploring possible opportunities for ASEAN brands/products to be sold to other regions.

Investors who are planning to expand their businesses within the ASEAN, can take a look of the investment scenario in different countries, and learn about the existing framework for intra-ASEAN trade agreements in said event.

The AE-BOEC is a joint undertaking of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) through the Board of Investments (BOI)’s Business Development Team for Electronics and the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM), and the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries of the Philippines, Inc. (SEIPI).

Companies who are interested to get a hold of the priority appointments for one-on-one business meetings must pre-register with the AE-BOEC Secretariat at 8311268, 8312201 locals 257 and 227, or email industrial@citem.com.ph.

Middle East offers huge market for Philippine food

The Philippine food industry stands to benefit from the projected increase in the Arab Peninsula’s food imports by over 50% of its estimated US$9 billion annual food and agricultural products, mainly attributed to the region’s rapid population growth (estimated to be 64 million by 2025), the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM) reported.


“The Middle East is one of the most interesting world markets for food and beverages. This region, including the GCC countries, already amounts to a US$ 12 billion food industry as of 2005,” said Trade Assistant Secretary and CITEM Executive Director Fe Agoncillo-Reyes.

In abid to address the growing Middle East food market, the Department of Trade and Industry through CITEM in cooperation with the Philippine Trade and Investment Center in Dubai and the Philippine embassies in Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait, will hold a Roadshow promotion dubbed as ‘IFEX Philippines Goes to the Middle East’ (17-26 November 2006).

The Roadshow primarily aims to capture the nearly food-independent GCC countries, whose economies have relatively high per capita income levels. GCC or the Gulf Cooperation Council member countries include Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

“Aside from sustaining the image-building efforts of the country as a reliable source of consumer-ready and high value imported food products, we also intend to strengthen our foothold on the million-strong Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) based in the Arab world,” added Agoncillo-Reyes.

Agoncillo-Reyes also explained that this trade and business event will focus on the market prospects in the states of Dubai in U.A.E., Qatar in Doha, Manama in Bahrain, and Basra in Kuwait, while taking advantage on the locations’ geographic proximity to Saudi Arabia and other Arab states.

The IFEX Roadshow will include round table discussion with the Dubai Food Authority on the updated market entry requirements for imported food, courtesy calls on Philippine Embassies in areas concerned, pre-arranged business matchings with leading food trade associations and importers, and visits to key food retailers and wholesalers of Philippine food products in identified Arab states.

“We also plan to network with Halal certifying bodies and authorities in the Pan Arab regions. If Philippine-manufactured Halal products become globally compliant, then it will be easy for us to penetrate the Moslem market,” noted Agoncillo-Reyes. Reports say that the global Halal food market is set to reach US$ 500 billion by 2010.

In 2004, the Philippine delegation of the Middle East cum Food Festival clinched US$ 10.7 million in sales while the participants of the Saudi Food held last year generated a total of US$ 5 million sales. Bestsellers in these two fairs were canned tuna and sardines, preserved fruits, powdered coconut, condiments, fruits and vegetables, fruit juices, noodles, ice cream and dairy products, wines, cereals, and desiccated coconut.

To date, the 2005 Philippine exports on food and food preparations reached US$ 1.7 billion, posting a 4.9 per cent increase over 2004 figures. Meanwhile, a total of US$ 47.4 million worth of Philippine food products was imported by the Middle East particularly the U.A.E., Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait.

For information on joining the Philippine delegation to the Middle East, please call CITEM, Agri-Marine Division at 831-1282, 831-2201 locals. 204 and 238 or e-mail: agrimarine@citem.com.ph.