Manufacturers’ trade gains traction here and abroad

THE PHILIPPINE manufacturing sector has been gaining competitiveness both here and abroad over the past years but current weakness in external demand in the short term may pose a challenge.

Critical to sustain the growth of the Philippine manufacturing industry is to secure “the ability of our manufacturers to serve local demand,” noted Roberto F. Batungbacal of the American Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s manufacturing committee.

Batungbacal said Philippine manufacturing output has dramatically increased, growing 52 percent in the last five years, or an annual average of 8.8 percent. He said this was the fastest growth that the sector has seen in decades, owing largely to the growing competitiveness of local enterprises.

Such momentum must be sustained, if not accelerated, in the next administration and beyond, he said.

“In AmCham’s Manufacturing Policy Brief, we do recommend a two-pronged approach: One approach for labor-intensive industries like food, textile and garments and the other for capital intensive industries like semi-conductor/electronics, automotive and chemicals. These two sets of industries have different needs to sustain or accelerate their growth,” Batungbacal said.

He said Domestic Enterprise Zones must be put up to help manufacturers. “We (also) recommend targeting an increase in manufacturing labor, from 3 million today to 7 million, shifting rural workers and low income service workers to highly productive jobs in the manufacturing sector,” he said. Amy R. Remo