01 June 2016 – It was one for the books as Philippine Consul General to New York Mario De Leon, in cooperation with the local Filipino community in Maine, established linkages with key economic officials who play a vital role in promoting deeper cooperation with state stakeholders in global climate change issues and the opening of the Arctic trade route.
Consul General De Leon held a meeting with Mr. Wade Merritt, Vice-President, Maine International Trade Center (MITC), and Mr. Thomas Conley and Mr. Billie Cary, who are both International Trade Specialists, at their headquarters in Portland, ME. MITC is a public-private funded organization created by the state legislature to promote international business and increase trade in goods and services for Maine companies.
During the meeting, the Consul General conveyed the significance of the Consulate’s economic outreach which recently visited other New England states like Vermont, and New Hampshire. He also cited that Philippine private business groups organized investment roadshows in the past four years that promoted trade and investment opportunities before US businessmen in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia and, most recently, in Pittsburgh last October 2015.
Mr. Meritt said that MITC is primarily an export development agency, but is looking beyond export into development programs and other areas such as academic exchange programs to attract foreign students to Maine. He underscored that several private schools in Maine are currently hosting students from Asia and, last January 2016, an MITC-led trade mission was conducted in Thailand and Vietnam.
According to Mr. Meritt, among Southeast Asian economies, Malaysia remains Maine’s number one trade partner because of electronics and semiconductors exports from Fairchild Inc. On the other hand, Vietnam produces furniture, while Thailand exports seafood and textiles to Maine.
Consul General De Leon said that the ASEAN Economic Community is now established and has a significant impact on the liberalization of trade of goods and services for about 600 million people. The Philippines hopes to attract investors because of its educated and English-speaking population. BPO and IT services, of which 70% are American companies, adds to a sizeable chunk of PH growth. The Philippines has also been participating in regional trade fairs such as Boston Seafood Show, where there is great potential for seafood and fisheries market for Filipino fishermen. Another area of growth is education where the Consulate General has been actively seeking alliances between PH and US universities in New Jersey and New York, he added.
On May 18, Consul General de Leon met the Maine State Chamber of Commerce in its headquarters in Augusta led by its President Dana Connors with Mr. Peter Gore, Vice-President for Advocacy and Government Relations, and Joyce LaRoche, Vice-President for Member Services and Program Development in attendance. Consul General De Leon gave a brief presentation where he focused on the IT-BPO sector, agriculture, resurgence of manufacturing, and tourism as drivers of economic growth that propelled the Philippines’ stellar growth for the past 64 quarters.
Mr. Connors stated that Maine has a thriving call center industry and a robust aqua- and agriculture industries which promote self-sufficiency and farm-to-table objective of the state. Many young citizens of Maine and those who come from big cities such as New York are re-settling to Maine to go into agricultural farming. In addition, Maine is attracting bio-medical companies which he described as a “niche-market” indicating a trend where these big companies are relocating near its subsidiaries or R&D centers such as in Boston, Massachusetts, to boost production capacity and enhance turn-around time for new products. The tourism industry in Maine is also getting attention because of the beauty and uniqueness of the landscape and people, he added.
The Consul General also echoed with Mr. Connors’ possible cooperation in education to attract foreign students to Maine schools and increase collaboration between Maine universities and PH schools, as earlier discussed with MITC.
The Consulate General is pursuing an economic diplomacy program based on genuine people-to-people exchanges which usually begin with actual outreach to economic officials and Chambers of Commerce of regional city centers under its jurisdiction. Recently, an Investment Roadshow was held in Pittsburgh, PA after the Consulate General opened links with Allegheny Conferences and Community Development and the Pittsburgh Regional Chamber of Commerce. US Northeast cities like Boston, Philadelphia and New York have also hosted investment roadshows in the past five years under the leadership of Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose L. Cuisia and Consul General De Leon, where PH economic managers and captains of industry promoted Philippine trade and investment opportunities. END