Turn south toward friends Down Under

Australia’s ambassador to the Philippines, Steven Robinson, visited The Manila Times recently. And in an interview, he caught our attention when he said that his country and the Philippines should be doing more business together. Indeed, we should. Apparently, there are missed opportunities.

Annual bilateral trade between Australia and Philippines is just P177 billion (about AUS $5 billion), with our top exports being gold and electrical equipment. Australia is a wealthy economy, the 21st in the world according to a report citing the International Monetary Fund. Per capita income is more than $58,700, one of the highest in the world. And yet, Australia is not one of our major trading partners.