Taiwan urged the Philippines to reciprocate its no-visa treatment on Filipino tourists to their nationals even as it vowed to continue to review their labor policies for the protection of Filipino workers working there.
This was expressed by Wallace Chow, Taiwan’s representative in the Philippines, in his remarks at the National Taiwan Day reception in Manila on Monday night.
Chow in his remarks also noted the P2.5-billion investment of Sercomm Philippine Inc. and the planned introduction of Gogoro bikes in the Philippines.
Chow said the Philippine tourism market has huge potential to attract Taiwanese as Taiwan and the Philippines are the geographically closest neighbors, and every week there are 130 flights between Taiwan and the Philippines.
Taiwan was ranked the fifth top source of tourists to the Philippines with 330,000 in 2019.
The visa waiver program Taiwan has provided for Filipino nationals has been extended to July 31, 2024, leading to increased tourist arrivals from the Philippines.
Chow said some 320,000 Filipinos are expected to visit Taiwan this year. As of August, 215,600 Filipinos have visited Taiwan.
“We sincerely hope that the government of the Philippines can also reciprocate to provide Taiwan nationals with visa waiver treatment in the future, so as to attract more Taiwanese tourists to the Philippines,” Chow said.
There are 152,500 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Taiwan which remitted more than 4507 million to the Philippines from January to July this year.
“(We will) continue to review our labor rules to further promote migrant workers’ benefits and rights,” Chow said, in expressing Taiwan’s gratitude to the contribution of OFWs to the Taiwanese economy.
Since 2016, both countries have been implementing various cooperation initiatives in the fields of trade and investment, agriculture, human resources development, tourism, OFWs, humanitarian assistance, and combating crimes and human trafficking under Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy.
In 2022, bilateral trade grew 18 percent to $10.72 billion.
In May, Sercomm Philippine Inc. opened its P2.5-billion new and advanced factory center which is expected to hire 5,000 employees.
Gogoro and local partners Ayala Corp. and 917Ventures, will introduce by the end of the year Gogoro’s smart scooters and battery-swapping system in Metro Manila.
