The Department of Trade and Industry through its Philippine Trade and Investment Center in Berlin presented to more than 100 German company representatives the Philippine investment climate and business opportunities, as well as competitive investment incentives offered to German companies at the recent ASEAN Investment Forum on 10 July 2018 held at the Ernst & Young- Düsseldorf Auditorium in Germany. The ASEAN Investment Forum 2018 is a joint project of the investment promotion agencies of the Philippines (DTI Berlin), Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore, in collaboration with the German Asia-Pacific Business Association, Ernst & Young Düsseldorf and IHK Düsseldorf. The keynote address was given by Dr. Andreas Stoffers of SDI München, who emphasized ASEAN as a thriving economic zone.
The event also featured a lecture by Mr. Eduard Herda of EY on operating business models in Southeast Asia, and testimonials from German companies present in the region. For the Philippines, Mr. Dirk Sohns, Head of Asset Management of STEAG GmbH talked about their presence and experience in doing business in the Philippines. Meanwhile, PTIC-Berlin Commercial Counsellor Althea Antonio (in photo, standing) served as the official representative and presenter for DTI. In 2017, Germany ranked as the Philippines’ 11th trading partner (out of 223), 7th export market (out of 216) and 12th import supplier (out of 198). For 2018, Germany remains in the top ten markets of Philippine merchandise goods. On the investments front, Germany ranked third as top source of Investment Promotion Agency (IPA)-approved investment from 2011-2017 in the European Union, following the Netherlands and United Kingdom. In 2017, it ranked as the 12th investment source, with $29.19 million worth of IPA-approved investments.
