New dev’t plan to boost PH exports up to $131B

Philippine exports of goods and services could reach up to $131 billion by the end of the Duterte administration, a top official of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said.

Senen M. Perlada, director of the DTI Export Marketing Bureau, told reporters on the sidelines of a briefing that the right market conditions would enable the country to touch an export range of $122 billion to $131 billion in 2022.

This is based on the Philippine Export Development Plan (PEDP) that will cover President Duterte’s six-year term, providing strategies and programs that would allow the government to reach its targets in a few years. The current PEDP plan covers 2015 to 2017.

“We’re crafting the new version of the PEDP. This is subsumed under the Philippine Development Plan. By the end of the plan, total Philippine exports would be $122 billion to $131 billion in 2022,” he said.

Perlada was referring to the PDP 2017-2022, the medium-term plan that would be anchored on a long-term vision called AmBisyon Natin 2040, representing the country’s aspirations decades from now.

For this year, Perlada said the target was a 6.5- to 7-percent growth in exports, to about $79.7 billion to $80.4 billion. This is made up of merchandise exports (targeted to grow by 4 to 5 percent) and services (10 to 11 percent growth).

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed sustained growth in terms of merchandise exports. In August alone, exports grew 9.3 percent $5.51 billion year-on-year from $5.04 billion, previously. In the first eight months of the year, exports grew 13.3 percent to $42.1 billion from $37.16 billion in the comparative period in 2016.

In 2022, Perlada said the government was expecting services —primarily accounted for by the information technology-business process management industry— to account for half of total exports. This is an improvement from its current share. He said services accounted for only 32 to 34 percent of exports at present, while merchandise exports accounted for the rest.

He said merchandise exports would still be driven by electronic goods.

To achieve the 2022 export target, Perlada said a number of expectations must be met, namely: the recovery in global demand and the strengthening of the dollar against the peso.