06 July 2015 - Philippine Ambassador to Italy Domingo P. Nolasco discussed trade and investment opportunities in the Philippines with key government officials of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia in a recent official visit to the island-region. 

In a meeting on June 19 with the Giunta Regionale in the Sardinian capital of Cagliari, Ambassador Nolasco highlighted the bright prospects of an economic partnership with the Philippines given the country’s strengths:

·      Highly stable economic growth rates (the second fastest in Asia);

·      Country ‘s population (more than 100 million consumers, mostly young);

·      Strategic leverage in an ASEAN Economic Community of 600 million people;

·      Major advantage as source of quality imports in the European Union’s Generalized System of Preferences Plus framework or EU GSP+ framework (the only country in ASEAN on the list).

Regional government officials present in the discussions with the Philippine Ambassador included Sardinia’s Vice President and Regional Minister for Budget, Credit and Planning Raffaele Paci, Chief of Cabinet Massimo Cugusi, Regional Minister for Agriculture Elisabetta Falchi, Regional Minister for Education, Culture, Information, Events and Sports Claudia Firino and Regional Minister for Tourism, Crafts and Commerce Francesco Morandi 

Aside from trade and investments, the meeting also talked about more people-to-people exchanges such as through culture, tourism and education between the Philippines and Sardinia.

Meeting noted the potential for cooperation which can be further looked into by the region together with the Philippine Embassy in Rome and the Philippine Consulate in Cagliari. END