The Department of Trade Industry-Export Marketing Bureau (DTI-EMB), Export Development Council (EDC), and Philippine Exporters Confederation (Philexport) held a series of virtual consultations to gather recommendations from exporters in the regions on the implementation of the Philippine Export Development Plan (PEDP) 2018-2022 strategies amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Consultations were held in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao on August 12, 19, and 26, respectively.
“This PEDP Regional Consultation is a venue to assess plans and programs before the crisis and if they are still doable despite the pandemic,” said DTI Undersecretary for Trade Promotions Abdulgani Macatoman.
The organizers presented updates to stakeholders—direct and indirect exporters, logistics providers, and government agencies—on the implementation of the PEDP and solicited commitments on how to update the plan amid the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly on the implementation of the three strategies: (1) improve the overall climate for export development, (2) exploit existing and prospective opportunities from trade agreements, and (3) design competitive packages of support for selected products and services sectors.
“We need to seriously assess, plan, and decide on our next courses of action. We need to focus and keep trying for our companies, our employees, our industry, and our country,” said Philexport Chairman Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr.
The PEDP 2018-2022 aims for the Philippines to export at least $122 billion worth of goods and services by 2022. It identified four key sectors for development, namely, electronics, IT-BPM, processed food and beverages, and tourism and travel-related services.
DTI-EMB Director Senen Perlada said that the Philippines was on track in achieving PEDP’s export goals before the Covid-19 pandemic. He added that this year, exports are slowly recovering after bottoming out in April.
A top concern for exporters is better access to trade credit grants and stimulus packages. Medium-sized exporters, in particular, requested financial assistance as they are not covered in programs targeting micro and small businesses.
Other common suggestions from all regions include streamlining of regulatory requirements for exporters. These include online applications for Certificates of Origin, and fast-tracking approvals from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), among others.
Exporters from Region 6 cited poor logistics as its top challenge, experienced by 82 percent of respondents. They said there was a lack of international flights in and out of Western Visayas and limited operations of logistics companies now.
To solve this, they recommended a dialog with the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap) or the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) to resume international flights to facilitate trade. Region 6 exporters said they also need post-Covid-19 targeted market intelligence from export markets in Asean, USA, Europe, and Latin America.
Suggestions from the National Capital Region (NCR) include intensified training on halal and major international certifications, export requirements and procedures, and export financing. They also recommended subsidized business missions, especially for pioneering and promising industries and products.
As top exporters of bananas, Davao region exporters want to fast-track the reduction of tariffs for bananas and other agricultural products to South Korea and Japan. To expand the market for agricultural exports, they also proposed to strengthen market access through an aggressive market intelligence network by DTI-Foreign Trade Service Corps (DTI-FTSC) and Agricultural Commercial Attaches, a continuous info session on Export Trade Facilitation Agreements, and online sessions for networking and business matching.
Perlada said that suggestions from exporters for the government to implement strategic policies and programs will be crucial in adjusting the PEDP targets because of the pandemic. He said that applying a WON or a whole-of-nation approach is crucial to lift exports and revive the economy.♦
Date of release: 21 September 2020
