Expansion of Philippine role in global value chain for electronics sought

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is eyeing to expand the country’s participation in the global value chain for electronic products as it hopes to capture opportunities for research and development as well as wafer semiconductor production.

In a news forum over the weekend, Trade Assistant Secretary for Industry Development and Trade Policy Allan Gepty said the current thrust of the DTI is to enhance the country’s participation in the global value chain.

“Currently, when it comes to electronic products, we know that this is the niche of the Philippines,” Gepty said.

However, he pointed out that the country’s participation is in the assembly of electronic products and testing.

“In the value chain, we have two aspects that we are targeting, the research and technology and the production of wafer technology,” Gepty said.

“So this means that if we get or if we capture those additional stages, it will be a big thing for our electronics industry because we are able to establish a niche in that particular sector,” he said.

The trade official said the country is also encouraging the manufacture and assembly of final products in the country as these products would have higher value, adding that the country doesn’t just want to supply components or elements of certain high technology products.

Latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that electronic products were the country’s top export in March among commodity groups with total earnings of $3.49 billion or 53.4 percent of the country’s total exports during the period.

The March figure, however, was 12 percent lower than the $3.96 billion worth of electronics exports in the same month last year.

From January to March, electronics exports also declined by 17.5 percent to $9 billion from $10.91 billion in the same period last year.

Semiconductors accounted for the bulk of the electronic product exports in the first quarter, totaling $6.837 billion.

This, however, is 16.7 percent lower than the $8.205 billion worth of semiconductor exports in the same period a year ago.

Last month, the DTI said it continues to pursue initiatives to strengthen the country’s semiconductor industry.

Among these efforts include its collaboration with the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation, Inc. (SEIPI), where DTI led a delegation in January 2023 to the US’ Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2023, dubbed as the “most influential tech event in the world.”

“The country’s participation resulted in potential cooperation between US-based high-tech companies with Philippines-based companies. The CES 2023 participation was followed through by trade and investment promotion activities during the Presidential working visit to Japan in February where the President was able to secure multi-billion investments in the Philippines’ semiconductor industry,” the DTI said earlier.