Turkish agricultural companies are exploring potential joint venture deals with Filipino firms on hopes of putting up processing facility for agriculture products even as they also favor the regionalization of poultry supply to avoid a sweeping ban of exports from an entire country during an outbreak of animal diseases, such as the African Swine Fever (ASF).
This developed as the three-day Turkish Trade Delegation mission opened Tuesday, Sept. 23, their business to business meetings with Filipino firms organized by the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM) and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) with the support of the Turkish government.
Most of the delegation members are engaged in poultry, agri seeds oil manufacturing, meat processing, milk production, cheese, and canned fish. The rest are engaged in concrete production systems, beauty products and consultancy services.
Turkish Ambassador to Manila Niyazi Evren Akyol raised the potential collaboration on nuts and dried fruits. He also expects contracts to be signed at the end of the three-day mission.
Although, the bilateral trade remained humble at USD400 million in 2024, the ambassador noted of improved performance with trade already reaching USD250 million in the first seven months this year.
“The numbers are slowly picking up. Turkiye is a producer of a variety of products, from defense industry to consumer products, to automotives, to textiles,” he said. Meanwhile, most of the Philippine exports to Turkey involves coconuts and coconut products.
In a huddle with reporters, the ambassador said Turkiye favors a regionalization scheme in the trade of poultry produce. This scheme will not impose a total country ban, but allows a particular ASF-free region of a country to export their poultry to another country.
For his part, TİM Sectors Council Member Ali Can Yamanyılmaz stressed the significance of the Philippines in the high-growth and one of the most dynamic regions: ASEAN.
Based on his data, he said that Turkiye’s exports to the Philippines amounted only to USD140 million while Philippine exports to the Turkey reached USD254 million in 2024.
This means, he said Turkiye accounts for a measly 0.30 percent of Philippine exports and 0.10 percent of its imports.
But the Turkish defense and aerospace industry has recently become the leading sector in its exports to the Philippines, he noted.
Between January and July this year, defense and aerospace exports rose to Manila grew by 164 percent.
Other exports, such as jewelry went up 55 percent, grains by 11 percent and electrical-electronics by 26 percent, while chemicals saw a 13 percent decline.
On the import side, electronics, grains, dried fruits, chemicals, and machinery are among the key product groups.
Last year, nearly 700 Turkish companies exported to the Philippines—an impressive figure considering the distance between the two countries.
“We look forward to building our ties and enabling more of our 150 thousand exporters to participate in this promising market,” he said.
