Philippines eyes stronger cooperation, economic ties with Germany

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines and Germany are looking to step up cooperation in areas like minerals processing and investment financing to boost economic ties, according to the Department of Trade and Industry.

The DTI said opportunities to expand bilateral cooperation, particularly in minerals processing and investment financing, were identified during the Second Joint Economic Commission (JEC) meeting held on March 27.

During the JEC meeting chaired by Trade Undersecretary for International Trade Allan Gepty and Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Parliamentary State Secretary Stefan Wenzel, discussions also focused on strong economic cooperation in manufacturing and industrial services, energy, construction and infrastructure, information technology-business process management, innovation and startups, vocational education and training, as well as labor.

“Our JEC is an excellent platform to exchange ideas, explore opportunities, and address challenges and ways forward,” Gepty said.

Over 70 representatives from government agencies and business sectors from the Philippines and Germany attended the meeting.

Representatives from the business sector include the Philippine Constructors Association Inc. (PCA), IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines, Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc., Aboitiz Power Corp., San Miguel Corp., German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Bauer, Bosch, Continental, KfW IPEX-Bank Asia Ltd., Lufthansa Technik Philippines, Mercedes-Benz Group Services Philippines Inc., Start2 Group, Triconti ECC Renewables Corp. and wpd AG.

The German Trade and Invest, its foreign trade and inward investment agency, represented Germany during the meeting.

With German firms showing interest in renewable energy projects, the Department of Energy invited the companies to establish a manufacturing plant for parts and components in the country.

Likewise, Philippine Overseas Construction Board executive director Doris Gacho expressed the board’s interest in collaborative projects with Germany to advance the implementation of the Philippines Construction Industry Roadmap 2020 to 2030, promote the country’s construction and engineering services and build the capacity of the country’s construction workforce.

In line with enhancing the workforce, the PCA and the BFW Construction Training Institute NRW signed a memorandum of understanding to promote the German dual-training system in the Philippines, bring German innovation in technology and enable the exchange of best practices.

Germany has consistently ranked as a top trade and investment partner of the Philippines with foreign direct investments inflow reaching $149.89 million and foreign-approved investments hitting P393.99 billion in 2023.