New DTI chief vows to fasttrack programs

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) intends to fasttrack its programs and projects this year despite a looming change in the country’s administration, newly-appointed Trade Secretary Adrian Cristobal Jr. said.

In an interview following a turnover ceremony with former Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo yesterday, Cristobal said the DTI would not adopt a wait-and-see stance under his watch as the country prepares for the national elections in the coming months.

“While many believe that it would be best to stick to what is there, that is not the DTI way, at least to me. For us there is no difference between an election year and an ordinary year. We always do our best and push ourselves to excel,” Cristobal said.

“For us here, we look beyond administrations. In fact, we look at generations when we plan programs and projects.  So the six months stay and election season, these are not really relevant to our daily work and our mandate,” he added.

In a separate interview, Domingo said he left no marching orders for Cristobal given the former undersecretary for Industry Development and Trade Policy Group knows very well all the department’s priority programs and projects.

“I believe it will be an easy transition. I don’t want to preempt him (on his plans). He is his own man,” Domingo said.

Cristobal assured it would not be business as usual for DTI this year, but instead “full speed ahead.”

The new DTI chief is keen on making changes on certain policies left and implemented by Domingo if there is a need to.

“All the programs we have such as the shared services facilities, the programs for medium, small and micro enterprises (MSMEs), our trade promotions and negotiations, will continue at a faster pace now. The shared services facilities that have an impact on livelihood of poor communities is something we will have to assess and accelerate in the next six months,” he said.

“We will build on what we have achieved and further modernize our agency by welcoming the best recruits and further training our people. Simplifying our processes and embracing new technologies for we understand that to effectively discharge our mandate to sustain the country’s economic growth and development, our organization must be designed to meet the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century,” Cristobal added.

Under his leadership, Cristobal said DTI’s strategy would be to ensure that all its policies, programs and activities would have the MSMEs at their core.

As for DTI’s mandate of protecting consumer rights, he said focus would not only be on resolving consumer complaints but also in reducing the complaints.

“We will also continue to entice investors form here and abroad through responsive and targeted trade and industry policies using the road maps that we crafted together with the private sector. We will support this effort by continuing to institute ease of doing business reforms as well as pursuing preferential trade agreements in other countries in other regions,” Cristobal said.

Aside from serving as undersecretary for the DTI since its reorganization in 2012, Cristobal also served as concurrent vice chairman and managing head of the Board of Investments.

Domingo resigned as DTI Secretary in September last year but was asked by President Aquino to stay in office until the end of the year to supervise the country’s hosting of the APEC Leaders’ Summit in Manila.