Russia to buy $2.5B worth of PH fruits, vegetables

President Rodrigo Duterte and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet for the first time during a bilateral meeting at the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Meeting in Lima, Peru on November 19. ROBINSON NIÑAL JR./ Presidential Photo

LIMA, Peru—Russia committed to buy $2.5 billion worth of Philippine fruits, grains or vegetables during Saturday’s bilateral discussions between President Duterte and President Vladimir Putin, officials said on Sunday.

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said the Russian side had agreed “immediately” to a proposal for the importation of Philippine fruit and other agricultural products in the next 12 months.

“Their immediate estimate is $2.5 billion. That’s a number they [Russian side] quoted,” Lopez told Filipino journalists covering the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum here.

Dwarfs current exports

The estimate dwarfs the $46 million worth of exports the Philippines currently ships to Russia every year, he said.

“We were talking of what they could buy from us, especially agricultural products, but nothing was specified. But I understand we supply them with a huge quantity of bananas… and mangoes. With these kinds of discussions, these present more trading opportunities between us,” Lopez said.

He said Putin also offered to help the Philippines through investments in energy and infrastructure.

“[They will help] in machine engineering, hardware, modernizing industrial machineries, railways, especially long-range railways, port infrastructure, monorails, light transit transport system, agriculture and, of course, tourism,” he said.

The Philippines may also expect more tourists from Russia, he added.

“Of course, the other side of this is their commitment to work with us on counterterrorism, counterdrug [operations], law enforcement, education, finance,” Lopez said.

‘Good rapport’

He said Putin and Mr. Duterte established “very good rapport” in their first bilateral meeting on Saturday on the sidelines of the Apec summit.

Mr. Duterte held formal discussions with only two leaders: Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

On the Philippines’ bilateral ties with Russia, Lopez said: “I mean there’s nowhere to go but up because it’s really a relationship that offers a lot of opportunities because hardly anything happens when it comes to trade and investment with Russia.”

The talk between Putin and Mr. Duterte took place at 12 noon on Saturday (1 a.m. on Sunday in Manila).

It was the first meeting between the Russian and Filipino leaders, though Mr. Duterte had been making plenty of friendly overtures toward Putin.

Last week, Mr. Duterte spoke about his readiness to join a “new world order” under the leadership of China and Russia.

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