THE Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation Inc. (SEIPI), in partnership with the Philippine Embassy in France, the Department of Science and Technology (DoST), and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)-Export Marketing Bureau/PTIC, will spearhead the first Philippine electronics business mission to France on October 23 to 27, 2018.
The mission aims to directly promote the capabilities of the Philippine electronics sector to its foreign partners through proactive business engagements and partnerships with French companies and organizations like the Angers French Tech (AFT) and the Alliance Electronique (ACSIEL).
As part of an ongoing collaboration between the government and the private sector, the mission is also aligned with the electronics industry’s roadmap called the “Product and Technology Holistic Strategy” or PATHS, which identifies niche products and technologies that the Philippines should be focusing on in the next five years.
Funded by the DTI, the PATHS study is administered by the DoST and implemented by SEIPI.
The first leg of the October mission serves as a response to Philippine Ambassador to France Ma. Theresa P. Lazaro’s invitation for SEIPI to conduct an electronics industry mission in Paris. Through the mission, SEIPI also aims to meet with the members of ACSIEL in order to facilitate technology exchange, business-to-business meetings, and investment opportunities.
The second leg of the mission, on the other hand, is the sealing of a partnership between SEIPI and Angers French Tech (AFT)—the local government’s thematic entity of the national French Tech initiative. It is also a program for French start-ups, investors, entrepreneurs, investors, developers, corporations, government agencies, and research institutes, encompassing all industries while advocating the digital technology called La French Tech.
The prelude to this partnership was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between SEIPI and the AFT in DTI International-Manila last June. It will formalize their plans to set up a French Pavilion in the Philippine Semiconductor and Electronics Convention and Exhibition (PSECE) in 2019.
On October 26, 2018, meanwhile, both SEIPI and AFT will commit to a mutual promotion of events, such as an establishment of a virtual office of SEIPI in France.
The MOU is also one of the strategies of SEIPI to capture a bigger share in the Internet of Things (IOT), since France is one of the Philippines’ fastest growing exports market. (DTI)
