'Philippines has traditionally been outside India's trade radar'

Indian Ambassador to the Philippines Navrekha Sharma is one of the many women ambassadors in Manila. The local press call them 'The Diplomatic Dames.'

A career diplomat, the 57-year-old joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1971. She's been in Manila for only a couple of years, but she is extremely knowledgeable and insightful about the cultural, political and economic issues in the Philippines.

She is no-nonsense but gracious and the Indian media delegation (in Manila on an India-ASEAN media exchange programme) has a pleasant and enlightening briefing at the Indian Embassy on October 6.

Sharma is quoted as saying in the local press that being a lady diplomat in Philippines has only advantages.

The main Indian export to the Philippines is buffalo meat. So when a consignment of Indian buffaloes arrived in Manila (via Bulgaria because of the foot and mouth disease scare), the local promptly called the bovines Bulgarian murrah and named one of them Sharma, in honour of the Indian ambassador.

In an e-mailed interview she talks about the trade opportunities that exist between India and the Philippines: Excerpts

India-Philippines trade stands at $400 million. What do you think needs to be done to enhance trade between the two countries?

India and the Philippines enjoy healthy and cordial bilateral economic relations. Our bilateral trade has steadily grown over the years -- from $180 million in 1998 to $372 million in 2004 -- with Indian exports to the Philippines at $283 million and imports from the Philippines at $89 million.

However, it remains below potential. India's share in Philippines' global trade is a negligible 0.46 per cent. Our exports are 0.7 per cent of Philippine's global imports, and Philippine's exports to India are 0.22 per cent of their global exports.

Philippines has traditionally been outside India's trade radar for a long time. Even after our 'Look East' policy was launched in the early 1990's, bilateral trade with the Philippines did not pick up whereas our trade with other countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam grew rapidly.

One reason is the aggressiveness shown by these countries as far as trade with India is concerned. Philippines on the other hand remained an onlooker. Also missing in the Philippines is the presence of enough Indian companies with effective lobbying capacity back home.

If bilateral trade is to expand, Philippines has to reciprocate the interest shown by Indian businessmen. They could start by liberalising the visa regime for Indians further (some liberalisation under GoI/Embassy pressure has occurred in the last two years).

Philippines is presently discussing the merits of the presidential form of governance vis-à-vis the parliamentary form. How can India, as the largest democracy in the world and with more than 50 years of parliamentary democracy help? Is the Philippines government consulting India on this?

There is no consultation between governments as such on the relative merits of parliamentary versus presidential system. However, our embassy has been sending information/books on the Indian Constitution on request to various people/agencies in the Philippines, including some appointed to study this question.

I have been invited by universities/business groups for talks/seminars on this subject along with the ambassadors of other countries.

You said that the Philippines drug/pharma market is worth $1.5 billion. But India's share is only $15 million. Why is this and what can be done to improve India's share?

The Philippines pharmaceutical market heavily dependent on bulk importation of basic raw materials, chemicals, semi-finished and finished products from the US, Europe, Canada and Australia, among others. Annual imports are about $450 million.

Manufacturing merely involves the formulation and processing of drugs and pharmaceuticals into various forms and dosages, repacking of imported bulk drugs and packaging them for distribution. Since the bulk of the imports are from multinational companies, medicine prices in the country are about 5 to 15 times higher than those in India.

There are two main reasons for the below-potential Indian pharma exports to the Philippines -- a strong multinational lobby working against imports of inexpensive medicines from countries like India, and stringent registration procedures of the Philippines' Bureau of Food and Drugs. We in the embassy have been countering the mischief perpetrated by the multinational lobby, by making the government, companies and people aware of the high quality and low-priced drugs available from India.

We have enlisted the support of the Philippine International Trading Corporation, a government agency, which has been importing medicines worth about $1.5 million a year from India for the last few years.

The PITC has been waging a war on the multinationals and has been promoting affordable-priced medicines from India and other countries. These medicines are supplied to government hospitals and to the 'Boutika Ng Bayan' retail outlets being set up by the Philippine government to make medicines affordable to the poor.

We have also put pressure on the BFAD to simplify the registration procedure for Indian drugs and shorten the time taken. We have been able to have the time shortened from about two years to about a year. It is a prerequisite for any drug imported into the Philippines to be registered with BFAD first. There are now over 50 Indian companies whose products are registered with BFAD.

What are the other areas in which bilateral trade can grow?

At present, major items of Indian exports to Philippines are: frozen buffalo meat (for processing), pharmaceuticals, iron and steel manufactures and tools, textile yarn, petrochemicals, auto and motorcycle parts, cereals, organic chemicals, electronic components, etc.

Major imports from Philippines are: semi-conductors, inorganic chemicals, auto parts, newsprint, minerals, garments and miscellaneous industrial products.

There is potential for growth in our exports in pharmaceuticals, IT services, animal feed, iron and steel, auto parts, cereals, chemicals and milk. As regards exports from the Philippine, potential exists in minerals, seaweed, processed foods and auto parts.

In the media interaction you spoke of how the Magsaysay Award is boosting India's image in the Philippines and vice-versa. Could you elaborate?

The Magsaysay Award has been given over the years to many Indians, some of whom became well known in India only after receiving the award. The award gave them deserved honour but also in many cases helped them to advance the good work they were doing.

India is the largest recipient of this award, followed by the Philippines. This fact is by itself an image booster for India in the Philippines.