India, Philippines share immense interest areas in economic cooperation: Report

New Delhi, Aug 23 (IANS) India and the Philippines share a lot of common areas of interest in economic cooperation and the same was reflected in Marcos Jr, the president of the Southeast Asian nation's recent visit to India.

During his visit, the Philippine president met various business leaders, which resulted in the signing of 18 business agreements spanning across sectors like renewable energy, healthcare, education, information technology, and others.

"The visit secured $446 million worth of direct investment in the Philippines, which could lead to potential investments from India reaching up to about $5.7 billion," moderndiplomacy.eu wrote in its recent report.

India and the Philippines do not share much bilateral trade; it was just $3.5 billion in 2023-24, which is around 2 per cent of India's total trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the report said.

Therefore, India must expedite its economic cooperation to improve the bilateral relationship with the South Asian country, particularly in light of the tariff threat posed by US President Donald Trump.

The Modern Diplomacy's report stated that the Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo believes that India has an untapped export potential of $577 million in the Philippines.

As a developing country, the Philippines requires economic investments in its infrastructure development. Earlier, as part of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China had made significant investments in the Philippines’ infrastructure sector and pledged to invest around $5 billion to build three railway lines in the country.

However, China has not dispensed the funding, prompting the Philippines to drop out of China’s BRI-funded projects.

India can intervene in this situation to support the Philippines' push for infrastructure development.

Notably, the Indian infrastructure giant GMR Group has indicated interest in funding the Build Better More Program of the Marcos administration, particularly in energy and airport projects, such as the Cavite airport project at Sangley.

Further, Indian firms can collaborate with Japanese or American companies in developing infrastructure.

Green technology is another promising area where both nations can have economic cooperation.

According to the report, the Philippines is the world’s second-largest producer of nickel after Indonesia, with the majority of its nickel being exported to China (98 per cent).

Securing a steady supply of raw materials like nickel becomes crucial as the number of electric vehicles (EVs) in India rises and the government pushes for self-reliance in the battery manufacturing industry.

During Marcos' recent visit (between August 4 to 8), both nations elevated their ties to the Strategic Partnership (SP), with India becoming the fifth country to have SP with the Philippines, joining Japan, Australia, South Korea, and Vietnam.

Marcos claimed that the visit would result in a "new beginning" for India-Philippines relations, citing his positive interactions with Indian leaders and business executives.

--IANS

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