Israeli-Philippine Trade Expected to Reach $1 Billion in 2024

Jerusalem, 6 June, 2023 (TPS) -- MANILA, June 5, 2023 (PNA)
Bilateral trade between the Philippines and Israel is expected to hit $1 billion by 2024, to be driven by investments in agriculture, water management and tourism.

Yael Ravia-Zadok, head of the Economic Affairs Division at the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, expressed optimism about an increase in trade between the two countries at the sidelines of the Philippines-Israel economic briefing in Makati City on Monday.

“Last year, we’re able to cross almost half a billion-dollar trade and we think that the potential is far higher…,” she said.

To boost trade, Ravia-Zadok said Israeli officials want to increase tourism between the two countries. Opportunities for direct Israeli flights to the Far East opened up after Saudi Arabia and Oman began permitting Israeli flights to cross their airspace.

“So we are closer to each other and definitely would like to see in the coming future direct flights from Israel to Manila and Manila to Israel. That would support trade, support business, and it will support tourism,” she said.

Ravia-Zadok said other areas of cooperation include water management, food security and renewable energy.

“This visit launched a new phase, not only on diplomatic relations but also economic relations. And I’m confident that with the business-to-business meetings, we will see trade growing,” she said, adding that “we’ll have many more delegations that will visit each other (and this) will see an increase in bilateral trade.”

National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan told reporters they have presented the government’s 194 infrastructure flagship projects worth PHP8.3 trillion that are in various stages of implementation to the Israeli business delegation.

Balisacan said the visit of Israel Foreign Affairs Minister Eli Cohen and representatives of the various firms from the Middle Eastern country opened more opportunities and provided stronger ties, citing that to date, foreign direct investments (FDIs) from Israel are small.

He cited the Philippines agriculture sector, specifically on water-related technology, tourism and information and communication technology (ICT), as the main drivers of the possible increased cooperation and trade and investments between the two countries.

Citing a presentation during the event, Balisacan said around 70 percent of Israel’s domestic water is desalinated to ensure that it can be safe for drinking and food-use.

In the case of the Philippines, while the country has abundant water sources, there is lack of technology, processes and management to harvest water and safely store it, he said, stressing the fact that this is where the cooperation with Israel will play an important part.

“We really need best practices that are appropriate for us,” he said.