THE Philippines is seeking the support of Germany for the resumption of Philippines-European Union Free Trade Agreement (PH-EU FTA) negotiations and the renewal of the Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+).Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual on Friday sought the support of Udo Philipp, Germany state secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, to resume negotiations for the PH-EU FTA and renewal of the GSP+.DEPARTMENT of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Alfredo Pascual. PHOTO BY J. GERARD SEGUIA'EU's GSP+ grant to the Philippines allows for tariff-free Philippine-made exports to Germany for at least 6,000 product lines,' he said.'[It will also aim] to continue fostering mutually beneficial trade and investment ties between the Philippines and Germany,' Pascual added.Pascual also conducted business dialogues with German firms, highlighting potential collaboration, in an event in Berlin organized by the Philippine Trade and Investment Center in Germany, which is the Department of Trade and Industry's (DTI) final destination in its Europe Investment Roadshow to attract foreign direct investments from the continent and form strategic partnerships.Caferino Rodolfo, Board of Investments managing head, and Dan Lachica, Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation Inc. president, expressed interest on collaborations in the electronics manufacturing and outsourcing industries with Verband der Elektro- und Digital Industrie (ZVEI), the German electronics and digital industry association.The possible outsourcing collaboration aims to create original design manufacturers or companies that design and manufacture products, and sell them to other companies that will rebrand the products as their own. Also being eyed is a collaboration to create original equipment manufacturers for the fabrication of equipment and electronic products in the Philippines.'This is in light of the continuing challenges of the lack of skilled labor, the rising cost of production and the diversification and de-risking aspirations in Germany,' the DTI said.Also, the collaboration can possibly maximize the opportunities of Tier I automotive suppliers involved in electrical explosion protection and sensor technologies with Pepperl+Fuchs company, a ZVEI member.'Pepperl+Fuchs employed over 6,000 in 2022 with revenues amounting to 1 billion euros,' the DTI said.Meanwhile, in software development, Pascual discussed possible upskilling programs, including research and development (R&D) for Filipinos in the information technology (IT) field with Caroline King, the global head of strategy and of government affairs of System Analysis Program Development known as Systemanalyse Programmentwicklung (SAP), and Patrick Grofig, the chief operating officer of SAP Labs Network.'Pascual highlighted that software development in the country is one of the more established subsectors of the Philippine IT industry, citing cost savings and a large entry-level talent pool,' the DTI said.It added that there are more than 400 software companies operating in the Philippines with about 200,000 IT and software personnel, of which about 85,000 work on projects geared for the export market.Pascual also cited the inclusion of R&D activities for incentives under the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises, particularly the 100-percent additional deduction on research and development expenses incurred in the taxable year for export, domestic market and critical domestic market enterprises.SAP is one of the world's leading producers of enterprise management solutions, posting revenues of 30.87 billion euros in 2022.
