The Department of Trade and Industry – Supply Chain and Logistics Management Division (DTI-SCLMD) and DTI-Davao Region conducted recently the Logistics Efficiency Indicator (LEI) Project Roadshow in a bid to enhance the logistics sector in the country.
Around 60 participants consisting of representatives of the logistics service providers, manufacturing companies, and some national government agencies involved in the logistics sector attended the activity at the Marco Polo Hotel, Davao City.
The Logistics Efficiency Indicator (LEI) Project is a data-gathering activity designed to develop measurement and baseline assessment of Philippine logistics cost, time efficiency, and reliability of transporting goods/cargoes and services, which are critical for a meaningful logistics and supply chain management sectors policy formulation.
One of its sessions, was a survey to the manufacturing companies and logistics services providers to identify the current logistics capabilities in Davao Region, which is one of the key areas in the country. Its quantitative results were consolidated and will be reflected to the country’s first logistics performance report this June 2017.
“The results that we gathered from you today would be very much helpful in improving our national logistics policies and programs which will also be integrated into the National Logistics Master Plan,” DTI-Davao Region chief for Industry Development Services Division Marie Anne J. How said.
During the one-day activity, DTI-Competitiveness Bureau chief for SCLMD Sarah C. Lope discussed in details the overview, methodology and the results of the World Bank’s (WB) Logistics Performance Index (LPI), which ranked Philippines at 71 out of 160 economies in 2016. This is a huge drop from the 2012 ranking of 52nd.
The WB-LPI measures and summarizes logistics performance across countries, based on the time and cost associated with logistics processes, such as port processing, customs clearance, transport, and etc. Its score is categorized into four typologies, namely: logistics friendly (3.50-5.00); consistent performers (2.95-3.49); partial performers (2.40-2.94); and logistics unfriendly (0.00-2.39).
Philippines, which scored 2.86, together with Indonesia, Vietnam, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, and Myanmar, landed in the partial performers category. On the other hand, Singapore and Malaysia scored under Logistics Friendly countries.
Measuring logistics infrastructure is already being implemented through the Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI) Project, which is also one of the competitiveness initiatives of DTI. It identifies the establishment of ports and measures its distance from key areas in a locality. The CMCI ranks every Local Government Unit (LGU) based on four pillars, to include Government Efficiency, Economic Dynamism, Infrastructure, and Resiliency.
DTI-Davao Regional Director, Maria Belenda Q. Ambi said, “As we are moving towards a highly competitive country, there is a need to ensure efficiency in our logistics capability and to be at par, not only in ASEAN countries, but also compete globally.”