The number of Filipino enterprises in the emirate of Dubai has reached 792 as the appetite for food and other products from the Philippines continues to grow, according to data cited by Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon M. Lopez.
Lopez, who is also the Philippine Commissioner General of Expo 2020 Dubai, said many Filipino quick-service restaurants and other Filipino brands thrive in the UAE due to the burgeoning interest among foreigners as well as the increasing number of Filipino workers in the UAE.
Filipinos constitute the third-largest expatriate community in the Gulf country.
“Business, cultural and people-to-people relations are positive factors that bring the Philippines and the UAE much closer than before. Hopefully we can sustain this positive growth in relations,” Lopez said in an interview with WAM.
To help migrant Filipino workers across the globe, Lopez said the DTI runs training programs to help them establish their own startup businesses for a more sustainable source of income.
“Over 10,000 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) across the globe, including their families in the Philippines, went through our training,” Lopez said.
“In other words, we want to teach them how to fish rather than giving them fish or they relying on the given fish alone.”
MSMEs create 70% jobs
Thousands of families of OFWs have already established businesses in the Philippines, mostly micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), with government support, the minister said, although the exact number was not readily available with him.
MSMEs account for 70 percent of employment in the Philippines. “They are also the type of enterprises that are scattered nationwide, both urban and rural. So it’s important that we save MSMEs to save jobs and income generation,” Lopez explained.
The pandemic saw the rise of online businesses. During the first part of 2020, there was only about 1700 registered online businesses, but towards the end of the year, they grew into 88,000 – over 40 times increase, he explained.
Opportunities at Expo Dubai
The Philippines wants to closely cooperate with the UAE in achieving food security, according to Lopez.
“The Philippines and the UAE share similar national goals and we would like to really work closely with the UAE towards achieving food security.
“The UAE investors are encouraged to look into agribusiness and agriculture in the Philippines, because that is a big sector in our country,” Lopez added in a recent Zoom interview from Manila.
Food and agriculture in the Philippines and potential cooperation in these sectors between both countries [along with other topics] will be discussed at business roundtables at the Philippine pavilion at Dubai Expo 2020, which will be held from 1st October 2021 to 31st March 2022, he said.
Bangkóta, the pavilion of the Philippines at the Expo 2020 Dubai, will showcase the country’s beauty and its priorities, Lopez said.
The country has itself set priority in trade and investment sectors that will be promoted at the Expo. There will be business roundtable agenda that includes energy, food, manufacturing, tourism, infrastructure, property development and equity investment.
There will also be a government roundtable agenda that will include agriculture and tourism, economic and cultural relations, people-to-people exchange and high-level visits.
“We will present our business investment strategy, essentially covering the global positioning, investment promotion to the UAE – Philippines as a competitive and innovative nation,” Lopez said.
