European businessmen said Wednesday they are optimistic about the Philippine economy this year.
“In 2019, the ingredients to a better economy are all there, but we must still observe cautious optimism. This should prevail. The Philippines needs to cultivate good relationship with the EU [European Union] and maintain their strong trading relationship,” newly elected European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines president Nabil Francis said in a news briefing Wednesday.
Francis said 2018 was a year of challenges for the Philippines with a number of headwinds that affected the trade and investments climate.
“We remain very optimistic about the Philippines. It still has this huge potential to grow. Demography is a main potential which is a big strength for the Philippines. This is very encouraging news,”
Francis, who is also the president and chief executive of Republic Cement, said.
He said local cement stakeholders were supporting the Trade Department’s decision to impose safeguard measures on imported cement. “Today, importers are capturing 15 percent of the market. This is putting in jeopardy a lot of job positions in the Philippines. Quite frankly, we have here abundant reserves in limestones. We need to manufacture our own cement here in the Philippines,” he said.
