Exports planned to double in 6 years

MANILA, Philippines - The export sector is gearing up to double Philippine exports by selling over $100 billion worth of goods abroad by 2016 or double that of last year’s total merchandise exports of $ 51.3 billion.

The target quantifies the goal of the newly approved three-year Philippine Export Development Plan (PDEP) drawn up by private and public sector leaders under the semi-government Export Development Council (EDC).

The export plan is yet to be submitted by the EDC chaired by Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo to President Aquino for approval and inclusion in the administration’s Medium-Term Development Plan.

“The target is modest in comparison to last year’s 33.1 percent jump. It aims to post an 11-percent year-on-year growth between now and 2013 as the sector gets back its’ bearings,” said Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis, Jr. vice chair of EDC and concurrent president of the Philippine Exporters Confederation (Philexport).

“Faster growth is expected to take off between 2014 and 2016 when we put in place an agro-industrial development program for the resource-based industries,” the export leader added.

The new plan has made major adjustments in strategy in the fields of policy directions, product development, marketing and promotions in the aftermath of the 2008-2009 global recession, explained Ortiz-Luis.

It took full consideration of the fact that the full recovery of the export sector last year was driven by dramatic hikes in imports by Asian countries whose economies proved more dynamic than the country’s traditional markets in Europe and the United States whose imports from the Philippines continued to decline.

In the immediate term, the new strategies will be funded by pooling the promotional budget resources of the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department of Agriculture, the Board of Investments, the special economic zones and the Department of Agriculture into a synchronized and orchestrated investment and trade promotions offensive.

This will be done as stakeholders work for the establishment of a National Export Development and Competitiveness (NEDAC) fund patterned after the Export Support Fund granted once by the past administration and administered by the EDC and the DTI at the height of the two-year global recession.

An executive summary of the plan said, “the key promotional strategy is integrating tourism, services and merchandise trade in promoting exports to maximize returns on promotional spending.”