BC’s bounty to help power Philippines

Canada has expressed interest in supplying natural gas to the Philippines for power generation.
Leading the pack, is the British Columbian government, which has already made presentations to potential buyers in the Philippines, but they also plan to bring Canadian companies here for their own sales pitch.
Canadian Ambassador to the Philippines Neil Reeder said his government has touched base with local power companies to offer liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants being developed in Canada.
"I've highlighted this with a couple of major power producers here because we are conscious that the Malampaya field has started to decline. You're going to be a net gas importer within the three or five year cycle, I guess, pending any new discovery. That's a perfect match with Canadian (LNG). We anticipate our Canadian export to be ready within three to five years," the ambassador said, according to local media reports.
The Malampaya field in offshore Palawan fuels three power plants in Batangas run by First Gen Corporation and Korea Electric Power Corporation.
The facilities' combined output generate nearly 40 percent of Luzon's electricity requirements but the Malampaya’s production is projected to start declining and last only up to 2024.
Government as well as industry officials have said the continued operations of the said plants are critical in keeping rates and supply in check as there are hardly any power projects in the pipeline that could offset their loss.
Canada, meanwhile, has been developing gas fields and production plants in the British Columbia region that are enough to last for 150 years.
As of October 2014, there are 18 industry projects proposing to produce LNG for export along B.C.’s coast. The National Energy Board has granted
export approval to nine of these proposals so far. There are already two LNG facilities in B.C. serving domestic needs – FortisBC’s Mt. Hayes natural gas
storage facility in Ladysmith and the Tilbury LNG facility in Delta.
Natural gas will be exported from B.C. to markets in Asia, transported by ships specially built to hold liquefied natural gas.
The Port of Prince Rupert is the shortest trade route between North America and Asia. It will be one of the main shipping terminals.
It is expected that B.C.’s LNG industry will:
• generate $150 billion in tax revenue
for the federal government.
• contribute up to $1 trillion to BC’s gross domestic product.
• create 100,000 direct, indirect and induced LNG-related jobs.
"We would like to offer that to the Philippines as a reliable source of gas," Reeder said.
Reeder said Canada is also priming the Philippines as one of its top global development and trade partners.
In a press luncheon, Canadian Ambassador Neil Reeder said his government has short-listed the Philippines among a group of countries with which greater trade relations would be pursued.
The Philippines has been designated "as a country of focus for development cooperation," Reeder said.
"What this means is a special focus on the Philippines. With 90 percent of all our bilateral development assistance going to 25 countries of focus and one of those is the Philippines. We anticipate that growth in our development programming in the country as a result of that decision," the Ambassador said.
Since 1986, Canada has infused over $800 million in total assistance to the Philippines, mostly to measures aimed at improving the investment climate, sustainable growth, and economic opportunities to the poor.
This year, Canada aims to support Philippine initiatives in tourism, and in the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector, Reeder said.
Besides being a development funding priority, the Philippines is considered a priority emerging market among the 20 countries under Canada's global markets action plan.
"What this means is that plan will focus our trade efforts in emerging markets where we see the greatest potential for Canadian exports. And those are also markets like the Philippines that have strong economic growth and strong growth potential," Reeder said.
Canada is banking on the "Filipino diaspora" —or its more than 800,000 Filipino immigrants — to act as a bridge for Canadian goods and services to the Philippines.
In line with this, Canada will hold a number of trade missions to the Philippines in the coming months with particular focus on agriculture, defense and security, education, infrastructure, ICT (information communications technology), mining, as well as clean and sustainable technologies.
The Philippines however needs to improve its infrastructure, particularly its "air linkages", and ease foreign investment restrictions under the Constitution to facilitate growth in trade relations, Reeder said.
"That kind of constitutional change would be welcome because that would facilitate longer term investments. If you look at the Philippines compared to other countries in Asean, you're still below that tier of countries that generate more foreign direct investments," he said.
Bilateral trade between the Philippines and Canada stood at about $1.7 billion based on 2013 figures, up 15 percent year-on-year. The Philippines' exports to Canada reached at least $1.1 billion.
Remittances from Filipinos in Canada stood at nearly $1 billion for the same period.