The German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (GPCCI) in cooperation with the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation, Inc. (SEIPI), and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) kicked off last July 5 a workshop series helping 382 Philippine companies, small and medium enterprises and individuals in the first session to understand the updated policies and technical basics to comply with the Philippine waste water management standards.
“To remain competitive and for the benefit of the environment, a better understanding of the country’s regulatory framework and the emerging technologies that enable best practices on wastewater management is very important.” GPCCI senior vice president Marie Antoinette Mariano highlighted this during the workshop. “We hope that our collective effort with Philippine and German experts will gear up Filipino SMEs. German environment technology providers will visit the Philippines in November virtually and we hope it will foster more cooperation.”
The series is in line with the export program of the German Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety. It aims to address the compliance of Philippine Small and Medium Enterprises with the Water Quality Guidelines and General Effluent Standards of 2016 (Administrative Order 2016-08) as well as the updated Standards of DAO 2021-19 that will be probably in place by July 2021.
PCCI director Joey Leviste recognized the timeliness and the big interest of the companies engaged in the event: “the business community acknowledges the recently updated DENR standards which will hopefully support companies on the compliance process as this poses a challenging undertaking.”
GPCCI belongs to the international network of German Chambers of Commerce Abroad (AHKs) that is represented by 140 offices in 92 countries. GPCCI is the official representation of German businesses in the Philippines; a bilateral membership organization with around 300 members; and a service provider to companies in their market entry and expansion.
