Abdulgani Macatoman (front, third left), Undersecretary for the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry’s Trade Promotions Group with the Philippine trade delegation to Qatar during the Philippines-Qatar Business Matching Session at the Radisson Blu H
The Philippines, which is witnessing a growing local halal industry, is currently in talks with a number of Qatar-based companies which are interested to invest in establishing halal facilities in the Philippines, as the country seeks to expand its market share in the $3.2 trillion global halal industry.
Addressing a press conference on the sidelines of a Philippines-Qatar Business Matching Session in Doha yesterday, Abdulgani Macatoman, Undersecretary for the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry’s Trade Promotions Group (DTI-TPG), who is also leading the Philippine trade delegation to Qatar, said that there’s a growing number of Philippine companies, including large corporations and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are now venturing into the halal industry. Philippine Ambassador to Qatar ,H E Alan L. Timbayan also attended the event.
“We spoke with a company which is interested to invest in establishing a halal facility in the Philippines, which is lacking in our country. We need more halal facilities, especially halal meat processing facilities, to cater to the growing number of hotels and restaurants offering halal food items. In the Philippines, we can offer agricultural land, especially in Mindanao, where prospective Qatari investors can set up such facilities to create a ‘halal hub in Asia’, through partnership with Qatar,” Macatoman said.
He added that the Philippine government, which has issued an Islamic banking law, is also seeking Qatari partners who will invest in the establishment of an Islamic banking system in the Philippines. Plans to establish Shariah compliant pawnshops are also being explored, he added.
“We currently have no Shariah banking system in the Philippines. And we have 10 million unbanked Muslim Filipinos in Mindanao. This is an opportunity to invite Qatari investors to consider the possibility of venturing into Islamic banking in the Philippines. There have been some initial talks, and we have two prospective partners who are really interested,” said Macatoman.
He added that the Philippine delegation has also spoken with another Qatari company which is interested to invest in the renewable energy sector in the Philippines. The Philippine trade delegation to Qatar, which includes 11 Philippine companies in the food and logistics sectors, plans to introduce more Philippine products in the mainstream Qatari market.
“We want to cater not only to the over 240,000 Filipino residents, but to a growing number of non-Filipino residents who are also patronising our Philippine products in Qatar. We’re now in the process of campaigning to have all our halal certifying bodies in the Philippines to be recognised by the Qatari government, so that more than 1,000 halal Philippine products can reach the Qatari market,” he added.
According to Philippine Commercial Attache for Middle East and Africa Charmaine Mignon Yalong, Philippine merchandise exports to Qatar have been steadily growing. She added that Qatar is the Philippines’ third largest export market in the GCC region.
Data released by the DTI during the event showed that Philippine merchandise exports to Qatar have increased by 22.3 percent from $24.87m in 2015 to $55.19m in 2019. Total merchandise trade (excluding services) between Qatar and Philippines stood at $203.18m in 2019, while Philippine merchandise imports from Qatar reached $147.99m last year.
Top Philippine merchandise exports include processed food, fresh food, machinery, construction materials, electronics, transport, marine/aquaculture, personal care, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and others. Top Philippine imports from Qatar include chemicals, gas, metal manufactures, machinery, minerals, transport, and electricals among others.
“With the upcoming Fifa World Cup 2022, newly constructed hotels and offices will need furniture supplies. We’re planning to introduce the Philippine furniture industry to the Qatari market to cater to this demand. We will come back to Qatar within the year for another outbound business matching mission which will be more focused on pharmaceutical products and the furnitures sector,” Macatoman said.
