Philippines

Political relations

High-level visits have taken place on both sides in recent years, including President François Hollande’s visit to Manila in February 2015, President Benigno Aquino’s visit to Paris in September 2014 and Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault’s visit to Manila and Cebu in October 2012. Mr Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, Minister of State attached to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, travelled to the Philippines in late June 2019, as did Ms Chrysoula Zacharopoulou in July 2023 and the Minister for the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu in December 2023.

France monitored with concern the anti-drugs campaign conducted by the previous government in the Philippines. On several occasions, it has called on the Philippine authorities to meet their international human rights commitments, particularly with regard to extrajudicial executions and the plan to reinstate the death penalty.

Economic relations 

The year 2022 was marked by a 29.4% rise in the volume of trade between France and the Philippines, which reached €2.225 billion. Trade thus returned to its pre-pandemic levels (€2.226 billion in 2019), after significantly shrinking in 2020 (down -42.9%) and a modest resumption in 2021 (up 35.2%).

However, France’s trade deficit with the Philippines is growing, having reached €345 million in 2022, or a year-on-year increase of 91.7%. This growing imbalance in trade is linked to the buoyancy of French imports from the Philippines, which reached a record high of €1.285 billion (up 35.2%) in 2022. At the same time, our exports to the Philippines increased by 22.1% to reach €940 million in 2022.