In line with the priorities of the Philippine Embassy in Wellington and the Philippine Consulate General in Auckland in jointly promoting trade, investment, tourism and people connectivity between the Philippines and New Zealand, Ambassador Virginia H. Benavidez and Honorary Consul General Paulo Garcia stepped up representations and networking with several companies in Auckland that have expressed interest in bringing their businesses to the Philippines and those that are already in the Philippines engaged in various sectors.

Calls on and visits to the heads of companies, CEOs, Directors and senior business executives were made on 23-25 July 2014. Ambassador Benavidez and Honorary Consul General Garcia met with Better Drinks Company/Fruit Juice Drinks for greater market access and distribution in the Philippines, Huhu Studios and Lifeway College for education, training and curriculum development on animation, creativity and digital arts for Filipinos, BDS Chartered Accountants for the establishment of a PEZA (Philippine Economic Zone Authority) registered company for its BPO operation, Tru Test Ltd. for expansion of its agriculture technology, AECOM and Hawkins Infrastructure Ltd. which are involved in energy and engineering consultancy in the Philippines. Discussions also were held on the favourable investment climate and incentives in the Philippines, the positive economic developments and niche areas of cooperation between the Philippines and New Zealand, the much acknowledged and appreciated talents and exemplary work ethics and service of the Filipino human resources in different fields, the Philippine government’s priorities on good governance, transparency and accountability and updates on the Philippine Public Private Partnership (PPP) and other programs. Subsequently, introductions and connections have been facilitated between Philippines-based potential trading and business partners and advisers for Better Drinks Co Ltd, Huhu Studios and Lifeway College and the BDS Chartered Accountants.

The extensive networking among the Philippines and New Zealand private sector and the presence of several companies doing business in the Philippines in the areas of renewable energy, dairy, ICT/BPO, mining, salmon processing, food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, bio-technology, services, trade in other goods, tourism and immigration consultancy, education, cold storage, shipping (vessel) and ports infrastructure, aviation, construction and higher knowledge processing and software applications augur well for the expansion of business ties between Filipinos and New Zealanders. Leveraging on the talent and expertise of the Filipinos and the Philippines’ abundant and highly skilled natural resources, central location and accessibility to markets in the region would be a strategic move for New Zealand businesses to expand their ASEAN footprint by locating in the Philippines. With their growing economic relationship, the Philippines and New Zealand are well poised to playing to each other’s strengths and synergy through greater inflow of trade, investments and business and tourism between the two countries bilaterally and in the context of the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA) and other regional partnership pathways.