Taipei Times (TT): I would like to start by asking you to explain in your own words what the role of your office is.
Antonio Basilio: We are just like any other embassy. We are the de facto embassy of the Philippines here in Taiwan. We perform consular services for Taiwanese visiting the Philippines, and for Filipinos who are living and working here.
We issue on average 100,000 visas or so [per year], and we have about 100,000 workers here. We also assist our nationals when they get into difficulties — fortunately, that doesn’t happen very often.
Also, we work very closely with people in trade and people in labor to promote our economic relations, which we divide into four [areas]: one would be trade — our exports; two would be Taiwanese investments in the Philippines; three would be our labor and services; four would be tourism. More recently, I would add our cooperation in agriculture and fisheries.
We have three offices. Taipei, of course, would be the main office, and we have extension offices in Taichung and in Kaohsiung to service our Filipinos living in those areas.
TT: In your view, what is unique about the relationship between Taiwan and the Philippines, as far as trade and economic ties go — ie what special qualities does it have that other relationships don’t have?
Basilio: I guess there is something to be said about our geographic proximity ... in terms of taking advantage of the geographic proximity, we are now negotiating the establishment of an economic corridor that would link the export zones here in Taiwan with Subic and Clark export zones in the Philippines.
The idea is to create a virtual export zone, a seamless link between locators [businesses located] in Kaohsiung, or even Hsinchu and locators in the Philippines.
They could be the same company, and they could move workers from one area to another, depending on demand and the requirements of the market. They can move the goods freely between the two zones, and more importantly, if the Taiwanese locator exports to other ASEAN countries — as long as they meet the “rules of origin” criteria — they could take advantage of the duty-free access to other ASEAN markets.
I think that’s the biggest advantage. We are also considered one of the best outsourcing destinations, because we have people who can speak English, and who are knowledgeable not just in customer service — like for call centers — but also in design, photo typing, accounting, medical transcription and things like that.
There is a growing interest from Taiwanese companies to outsource some of these services to the Philippines, particularly as they begin to market their own brands and their own designs, rather than producing products for others, where they don’t need much marketing support.
TT: How do you think that increased cross-strait ties, or the relaxation of the cross-strait situation, between Taiwan and China is going to affect the Philippines, in terms of trade? Is it something you’re going to benefit from, or is it something you are concerned about?
Basilio: I think there are both positive aspects to it and also some challenges. But in general we can say that stability across the [Taiwan] Strait is good for the region; it’s good for the Taiwanese economy and it’s good for the Philippine economy.
If Taiwan’s economy strengthens as a result of openness in doing business with the mainland, then that benefits the Philippines. For example, the opening of Taiwan to tourists from the mainland could maybe generate more opportunities in the service sector. It would mean maybe increasing demand for people in the catering industry and the hospitality industry, and also the demand for food and consumer items like clothing and souvenirs.
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