THE German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GPCCI) presented possibilities in the local transportation front and infrastructure upgrading, among others, in a recent gathering.
The GPCCI Luncheon Forum on October 26, organized with Lufthansa Technik Phils. and featured Secretary Jaime Bautista, centered on potential partnerships between the Philippines and Germany, with focus on the Department of Transportation’s (DOTr) vision and plans for transforming the sector—including easing the conduct of businesses, and enabling further growth.
Ambassador Dr. Andreas Pfaffernoschke, as well as GPCCI’s president Stefan Schmitz, executive director Christopher Zimmer, and its board of directors led other key officials in the gathering.
“We’re also pushing for nonspecific thematic initiatives that are all-encompassing across the different sectors,” said Bautista. “Included in the existing 20 thematic initiatives are reducing logistics cost, creating transport jobs, transport safety and security, carbon neutrality, disaster resilience, gender equality, [as well as disability and social inclusion, among others. Other critical ones we now regard as advocacies are digitalization, electric vehicles, institutional strengthening and rightsizing, plus] more.”
The event also staged a panel discussion with the DOTr chief and Lufthansa Technik Phils. president and CEO Elmar Lutter. They tackled potential partnership opportunities with German-Philippine businesses and participants’ queries on the transportation sector, its plans, and possibilities for growth and collaboration.
Zimmer confirmed that “with all the plans and prospects of the current administration for the Philippine transportation landscape, we see immense opportunities for German business to tap into and contribute to positive economic impact to the overall mobility of goods and services in [this] country.”
The forum concluded with an invitation from Bautista for German businesses and government to explore the DOTr’s projects and initiatives, then promoted the possibility of public-private partnerships aimed at improving and growing the Philippines’s transportation system and sector.
Image credits: Department of Transportation
