5% PH export growth feasible in 2023, says trade official

MANILA  -The Philippine government expects revenues from the export of goods and services to grow by around 5 percent this year, but concedes that the number may fall short of the nominal amount targeted with the private sector.

Bianca Pearl Sykimte, director at the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Export Marketing Bureau, told this to reporters last week, citing that 2023 export revenues would likely exceed last year’s record of around $98 billion.

“We are confident that it will be a little bit more favorable than the projected (Development Budget Coordination Committee) growth target of 1 percent for [export of] goods and 6 percent for services. For the sum total, we are hoping for at least 5 percent,” Sykimte said, highlighting that service exports would drive the projected growth.

Asked whether they see export revenues hitting the export target of $126.8 billion in 2023 under the updated Philippine Export Development Plan (PEDP) that was launched in mid-June this year, she said that it would be “difficult” to reach.

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“The PEDP target was crafted when the geopolitical tensions were not there yet, [along with] the inflation situation and the less favorable recovery of China,” Sykimte said, noting it had been set in mid-2022.

The trade official said they were already discussing with the Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc., the country’s largest export association, whether there’s a need to update the yearly PEDP export goals.

Development agenda

“Usually, we recalibrate based on the trading environment,” she said.

Under the PEDP 2023-2028, one of the strategies to ease supply side constraints is to attract and retain domestic and foreign investments, particularly in the export of high-value products and services.

READ: Marcos targets $240B in 5-year exports plan

Also included in the overall development agenda in the PEDP is the intensification of trade promotion, marketing, design innovation and branding initiatives, as well as the pursuit of active membership in regional and bilateral preferential trade agreements.

The strategy also includes market diversification, clustering and consolidation of small producers, addressing skills mismatching in the export industry and strengthening technology and innovation systems.

The government and the private sector are looking to nearly triple the country’s export earnings to $240.5 billion by 2028, banking on new measures to achieve this goal. INQ