Electronics industry keeps 5 to 6% growth target

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s electronics and semiconductors industry is still optimistic of hitting its growth target for the year despite concerns over the looming global trade war and the impact of the package 2 of the new tax reform law.

“We are maintaining our five to six percent growth projection and that should bring us to about $34.5 billion to $36 billion (by yearend), notwithstanding all the distractions, whether it‘s the US-China trade war or TRAIN 2,” Semiconductor and Electronic Industries in the Philippines Inc. (SEIPI) president Dan Lachica said in a briefing yesterday.

“These are the challenges. But we feel very comfortable that we will still maintain the five to six percent growth projected for this year,” he said.

Electronics exports came from a record high level in 2017, finishing the year at $32.7 billion, an 11 percent improvement from $29.4 billion in 2016.

Amid the drop in merchandise exports for the fourth consecutive month in April, Lachica said “there is nothing to be alarmed about” just yet.

Export of electronic products, which comprised 69 percent of total shipments for the month, still registered a 5.5 percent growth in April on the continued strong foreign demand for semiconductors, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.

“The question is what do we do next. What we want to do next is to further grow that. In fact, our target really is to reach $50 billion by 2030. It’s not one activity, but several activities that we’re looking at,” Lachica said.

Lachica said the industry blueprint called Product and Technology Holistic Strategy (PATHS) has recently been completed and has received the final approval from the Department of Science and Technology.

PATHS, which will serve as the industry’s roadmap, will be launched by SEIPI tomorrow during the opening of Philippine Semiconductor & Electronics Convention and Exhibition (PSECE) 2018.

Meanwhile, SEIPI signed yesterday a memorandum of understanding with Angers French Tech, a European “electronic valley,” to set up a French Pavilion in next year’s edition of the PSECE.

The MOU is a prelude to a partnership which will be signed in France next year for mutual promotion of events and an office for SEIPI in France.