Russia to import more from the Philippines: trade secretary
Russian imports from the Philippines could go up to $2.5 billion following the bilateral meeting between President Rodrigo Duterte and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Peru, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said on Sunday.
Current Philippine exports to Russia are about $80 million a year, the trade department chief said in a press conference in Lima where he joined Duterte in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' Meeting.
"They said I think from several million dollar imports from the Philippines, they are saying immediately I think on fruit and other products, they can easily bring up," Lopez said.
"They project to bring up imports from the Philippines to the tune of about $2.5 billion dollars...that's a number they quoted," Lopez added.
He also said the government expects more Russian tourists and cultural development between the two countries.
Lopez said Russia also expressed interest in pouring in investments in energy and infrastructure, machine engineering, hardware, railway system, monorails and agriculture.
"Of course, the other side of this is their commitment to work with us on counter terrorism, counter drugs, law enforcement, education finance," he added.
He described that during the bilateral meeting between Duterte and Putin at the APEC sidelines, the two leaders had "very good rapport."
With the meeting of the two leaders, Lopez said, "we can only look up, I mean, nowhere to go but up because it's really a relationship that offers a lot of opportunities."
Putin had formally invited Duterte to visit Russia during their meeting. Celerina Monte/DMS
