Eurozone crisis stalls RP economic prospects

CEBU, Philippines - The positive prospects of the local economy due to the success of the country’s first automated elections last May 10 has been stalled with the recent crisis in Europe.

Eric Casas, former president of the Cebu Furniture Industries Foundation Inc. (CFIF) said the export industry sees a boost in investor confidence in the local market due to the successful elections.

“We are hopeful that the investor confidence will strengthen the local market. But with export, we remain conservative with our expectations, considering the recent economic woes in the EU (European Union,)” he said.

The Union Bank of Switzerland said in its latest report that the Philippines may experience weaker demand for its products exported to Europe because of the weakening of the financial markets in the euro zone.

The Switzerland-based investment bank said in a report that the declining value of the euro has implications for the five Asean economies including the Philippines. A weaker euro would mean a loss of competitiveness for exports from the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

But Casas said furniture exporters in Cebu remains optimistic considering the quality of buyer turnout in the Cebu International Furniture and Furnishings Exhibition (CEBUNEXT) 2010 held last March.

CFIF president Angela Paulin said buyers representing Philippine-based companies were the top visitors during the event, followed by American and Australian buyers.

Philippine-based buyers made up nearly 45 percent of the buyer population of the show while those from the US came up second, but only accounted for about 11 percent of the total number of buyers.

Paulin said buyers from Australia have also increased to nearly 5 percent from 2.6 percent in 2009. There was also a noted growing interest from United Kingdom and India .

According to a statement, nearly 62 percent of buyers during CEBUNEXT were from Asia.

Most of the buyers who attended the show represented companies engaged in wholesale (32 percent) while retailers made up the second biggest group (27 percent). There were also homeowners, architects and sales agents.

Total sales reported by exhibitors reached US$4.1 million, higher than the US$3.9 million reported in 2009.