DUBAI: Philippine exporters recognize the UAE market as top destination for Philippine food products, followed by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The growing Filipino community in the region of about 2 million, strong GDP growth, increasing per capita income, and the developing tourism sector have played a major role in the Filipino exporters’ market advantages especially for food products. About Dh740 million worth of Philippine products have been exported to the GCC in 2015. About 50 percent of the total Philippine food exported to the region goes to the UAE.
This, according to the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), which recently sent a delegation to the UAE to further explore areas of business expansion in the country.
According to Eric Elnar, Philippine commercial attaché to the Middle East and Africa, the Philippine outbound missions conducted in February and November last year have resulted to a total of Dh294million of exports from the Philippines to GCC. He added that the same amount is being targeted this year through another outbound visit by Philippine exporters between Nov. 8 and 22.
“We have always reached out to big and small importers. Most of the big retailers here are being represented and they get to meet our exporters. There are also those who are small and medium entrepreneurs and even those who have just been starting up like our kababayans who are now venturing in importing Filipino products,” Elnar said.
Elnar pointed out that there are new innovative products that some of the 14 participating Philippine companies have introduced in their recent visit.
The business-to-business between Philippine and UAE investors was held at Ibis Hotel – Dubai World Trade Center (DWTC) on November 10.
