The European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines urged micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Mindanao to export their products to Europe in a bid to boost trade.

Florian Gottein, ECCP executive director, said on Wednesday during the Habi at Kape media forum at Abreeza Mall some of the in-demand products in the EU that Mindanao companies may explore are food processing, agriculture products, consumer goods and retail.

Gottein said this is based on the EU General Scheme of Preferences+(GSP+), a system which allow 6,274 products to be imported into the EU from the Philippines with zero tariff.

“This means that more and more Philippine businesses are taking advantage of the perks offered under this scheme,” said Gottein.

According to Department of Trade and Industry, the total export to the EU grew from EUR 5.79B to EUR 7.25B between January to November 2017.

“The top products with significant growth include food and agricultural products, automotive parts, leather, textiles and footwears,” he said.

Gottein underscored the utilization rate of the EU GSP+ is continuously increasing from 51 percent in 2012 to 71 percent in 2016.

Gottein said ECCP works with the national government to facilitate marketing access, ensuring the level playing field for both European and Filipino companies.

He added that they also facilitate foreign investment from Europe to the Philippines.

“The ECCP promotes good business practices and encourages investments to come to the Philippines through projects that implements or support,” he said.

Article was originally published on October 18, 2018 on Edge Davao online