The Department of Trade and Industry remains bullish that the country’s exports will still grow by 7-8 percent this year, buoyed largely by the services sector.
Even merchandise exports alone are projected to grow by 3-5 percent, driven by the robust performance of the nonelectronics sector, Trade Undersecretary Ponciano C. Manalo Jr. said on Tuesday.
“We’re a little bit short of the 10 percent exports growth target, but if I will be optimistic, we might even hit that 10 percent because of the strong performance of the services sector,” Manalo said on the sidelines of the National Export Congress 2013.
“Next year, we’re forecasting the same growth because our food exports are strong like the coconut products, construction materials, wood products, furniture, among others. We’re very optimistic in the [Export Development Council],” Manalo said.
Electronics exports are also expected to recover next year.
To further boost the country’s exports, the DTI, according to Manalo, will make a big push for opportunities in high value added business process management sector such as for healthcare information management for US-based clients and financial and insurance services for UK-based clients.
“The strategy now is to improve our performance in the nonvoice area,” he said.
Meanwhile, Manalo noted that the Philippines can latch on to opportunities to be presented by the economic in tegration among members of the Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations).
“The establishment of the Asean Economic Community by 2015 is a constant source of fear and excitement. The AEC will transform the 10 member states into a single market and production base. For the Philippines, this presents dynamic competition and vast opportunities with the free flow of goods, services, skilled labor, investments and capital. Local companies should be ready,” he said.
The DTI, for its part, has been beefing up its investment promotions plan, which is anchored on the Philippine Export Development Plan and Investment Priorities Plan.
The PEDP is the main trade policy document that underscores strategies and unifies industry and international trade strategy framework, while the IPP outlines the sectors that the government is actively promoting within a favorable regulatory framework.
“We are also pushing for measures to address supply chain gap. Our thrust is to move further forward with high value added services like data analytics, health management and manufacturing,” Manalo added.
Sergio R. Ortiz Luis Jr., president of the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc., shared the optimistic view of Manalo regarding exports.
“We are at the end of the implementation of the 2011-2013 phase of the PEDP. So far, we may be short of target but we project that we will end up in positive territory, given that electronic products are showing some recovery,” Ortiz-Luis said.