DTI adopts industry clusters to boost exports

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is intensifying its efforts to improve the competitiveness of the export sector in light of the global economic slowdown, Trade and Industry Secretary Manuel Roxas II said yesterday during the opening ceremonies of National Exporters Week.

In support of the government’s drive to improve the competitiveness of local businesses, the DTI has adopted industry clustering as a key strategy to spur industry and export development.

Roxas said that strategic clusters identified after a rigorous study by the Regional Operations Group with the Export Development Council and Dr. Ceferino Follosco are not the conventional clusters.

Instead, Roxas explained, these clusters involve the integration of forward and backward linkages into allied industries.

In pushing for the clustering strategy, Roxas said, "the DTI has asked the active involvement of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), the Department of Agriculture (DA), the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS), the Commission on Higher Education (CHE), TESDA, the local government units and the private sector.

"The DTI is also in the process of strengthening the coordinating body established under the Philippine Export Development Plan (PEDP) and institutionalization of the Cluster Management Teams at the national and regional levels," Roxas said.

The DTI is also finalizing the PEDP for 2002-2004 this year.

According to Roxas, the DTI did a fine tuning of the implementing structure for the PEDP through the formation of brand development teams.