A delegation of Philippine game development companies such as Pixel Mafia, GameOps Inc., Synergy88, Animation Vertigo, and Neun Farben Corporation, generated USD46.5 million worth of sales revenue, USD14.3 million contracts under negotiation, and USD35 million direct investments during the External Development Summit (XDS) 2023 on September 6-8 in Vancouver, Canada.
The Philippine delegation was led by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) through its Competitiveness and Innovation Group (CIG) headed by Undersecretary Rafaelita A. Mercado-Aldaba, with DTI Export Marketing Bureau (EMB), the Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC) – Silicon Valley, and the Game Developers Association of the Philippines (GDAP), with the support of International Trade Center (ITC) ARISE Plus Philippines.
In 2022, bilateral trade between the Philippines and Canada was valued at USD1.49 billion. Canada ranked as the Philippines’ 20th trading partner (out of 231 trading partners), 17th export market (out of 213 markets), and 20th import supplier (out of 216 suppliers).
During the summit, DTI engaged in several key meetings and events, including a meeting with Consul General Arlene Magno of the Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver, and game studios such as Electronic Arts, Lionbridge Games, Atomic Cartoons, Free Rang Games. They explored opportunities for cooperation and synergy between the Philippine and Canadian markets, with a focus on promoting the Philippine Creative Industries.
The delegation also discussed potential partnerships with the Philippines-Canada Trade Council (PCTC), a non-governmental association that aims to enhance economic ties between the two countries, particularly in innovation, startup development, and creative industries.
Moreover, DTI collaborated with the Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver to host the “Building Bridges: Philippines & Canada Creative Sector Networking Night.” This event provided a platform for creative professionals to connect, collaborate, and explore trends in the creative economy, featuring speakers from both the Philippines and Vancouver.
During the exhibition at the Philippine Pavilion, DTI further engaged with XDS and Creative BC to share insights on the current landscape of creative industry.
In her opening message, Undersecretary Aldaba said, “The global market is competitive and as part of our initiatives to develop the Philippines into an international video game development hub, we capitalize on outbound services that generate export income, while simultaneously creating inbound sources of investment and transfer of expertise as part of our long-term strategy.”
According to Usec. Aldaba, to achieve the goal to champion Filipino creativity, innovative IP products and services, through the government’s mandate to support PH Game Development Sector, one must take part in the global value chain of the creative industries and truly embrace the evolving digital technologies to make creative services and goods competitive and enticing.
EMB Director Bianca Pearl Sykimte added, “We want to provide an enabling environment and provide our local game industries a platform to showcase their capabilities both at the industry and firm level.”
Established in 2013, the External Development Summit (XDS) is the only annual international games industry event with a primary focus on external development for art, animation, audio, software engineering, QA, and localization. It gathers hundreds of international attendees from over 45 countries to advance the practice of external development for the games industry with three days of structured networking.
