EXPORT ACCESS. Canadian Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines president Julian Payne discusses the Philippines’ export opportunities in Canada during a gathering with manufacturers in Negros Occidental in Bacolod City on Tuesday (August 21, 2019). The activity was organized by the Provincial SMED Council and the Bacolod-Negros Occidental Federation for Information and Communications Technology. (PNA Bacolod file photo)
BACOLOD CITY -- Negrense producers engaged in export are eyeing access to the Canadian market, which patronizes and purchases goods from countries in Southeast Asia, including the Philippines.
This was noted by Mary Ann Colmenares, chairperson of the Provincial Small and Medium Enterprise Development (SMED) Council of Negros Occidental, after the Canadian Chamber of Commerce (CanCham) in the Philippines president Julian Payne presented export opportunities in his country before local manufacturers here earlier this week.
“The presentation was very informative. We have not saturated the export market in Canada. We have yet to build access to it,” Colmenares said on Friday.
She added that the presentation will help them gain access to Canada for products from Negros Occidental.
The market will be a good match for the capacities the Negrense SMEs have at present, she said.
Colmenares pointed out that the CanCham official presented a well-defined analysis of the products that Canadians patronize and buy specifically from the Philippines and the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) in general.
In his presentation, Payne also outlined the profiles of markets within Canada, including the distribution and socioeconomic profile of the population, and major urban centers and markets.
“You have to know the market in every part of Canada if you’re looking for the sizeable portion of its population. Do not think Canada as a single market,” he added.
Between 2016 and 2018, the Philippines’ top exports included coconut oil, fresh and dried bananas, preparations of fruits, preserved fish, coconuts, pineapples, avocados, mangoes, vegetable extracts, tobacco products, fruit and vegetable juices, and frozen fish.
The top Canadian imports are grape wines, bread and pastries, protein concentrates, coffee, chocolate, animal feed preparations, berries, waters, preparations of fruits, and mushrooms.
The activity, organized by the Provincial SMED Council and the Bacolod-Negros Occidental Federation for Information and Communications Technology (BNEFIT), was attended by food manufacturers, and gifts, decors, and housewares producers.
The Provincial SMED Council is composed of private-sector members from BNEFIT, Association of Negros Producers, Negros Occidental Council of Women, Bacolod Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Hotel and Restaurant Association of Negros Occidental.
Government sector representatives are from the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of the Interior and Local Government, and Negros Occidental Office of the Provincial Agriculturist. (PNA)
