Philippines, Australia eye mining cooperation

MANILA, Philippines — The government will look into best practices in Australia’s mining industry, as the Marcos administration banks on the sector to contribute to economic recovery.

Finance chief Benjamin Diokno recently met with Australian Ambassador HK Yu and Australia’s special envoy for Southeast Asia Nicholas Moore to explore possible areas of cooperation between the two countries.

One of these areas is the mining industry, which the Marcos government is reviving, with the passage of a new mining fiscal regime to achieve simplification, fair share, value-adding and good governance.

Diokno said the two countries will look into cooperation in mining, particularly in sharing best practices in taxation, engagement with mining communities, and mining technologies.

The Australian government is already working with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and Philippine companies through a series of mining missions to Australia.

This aims to provide opportunities for Filipino mining stakeholders to learn more about Australian mining practices.

Ambassador Yu, for her part, noted that the visit to Australia comes at the right time considering that the Philippines is looking at opening up the industry to foreign investments.

“Our practices are really among the world’s best and I think this mission will enable Philippine companies to look at how Australian companies are doing their mining,” Yu said.

It should be noted that mining is one of the most important sectors of the Australian economy, accounting for about 10 percent of its gross domestic product.

Australia is the fourth largest mining country in the world and is a leading producer of gold, iron, lead, zinc, nickel, lithium, uranium and black coal.

In the Philippines, mining has been contributing less than one percent to the country’s GDP as the previous administration has been generally cold to the sector.

It was only toward the end of 2021, when former president Rodrigo Duterte gave a much needed boost in revenue generation for the industry with the lifting of a four-year old ban on open pit mining.

This is what the Marcos government wants to capitalize on and boost through the passage of a new fiscal regime.

Apart from mining, Diokno said Australia also hopes to drum up interest among Australian companies in the possible privatization of airports in the Philippines.

Further, Australia noted that the Philippines may explore opportunities to tap into Australian skills and technology in agriculture, especially on agriculture technology and the use of renewables in power distribution.

The Philippines is one of Australia’s longest-standing bilateral partners, with diplomatic relations spanning 77 years.

Philippine-Australian cooperation covers trade, investment, defense, security and development.