Trade dep’t plans shipbuilding, pharmaceuticals programs

THE BOARD of Investments (BoI) will roll out next year two more industry manufacturing initiatives similar to its existing automobile resurgence program, a senior Trade official said yesterday.

Trade Undersecretary Ceferino S. Rodolfo, BoI managing head, told reporters that the investment promotions body plans to give incentives to firms that will help develop local manufacturing capability for roll on-roll off (ro-ro) ships and pharmaceuticals.

This comes on the heels of the government’s Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (CARS) program, which was established in the last months in office of former President Benigno S. C. Aquino III in a bid to make the country a regional automobile manufacturing hub.

“For next year gusto natin meron na tayong (we want to have a) similar [to the] CARS program. So ‘ yung isa (one is) shipbuilding. Tapos pangalawa iniisip natin ( Then the second one that we’re considering is) domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing,” he said on the sidelines of a company awarding ceremony.

“Ang gusto natin is ‘ yung ( We want to have) ro-ro shipbuilding. Gusto natin similar to ( We want it similar to) CARS, we have the domestic market para sa (for the) ro-ro shipbuilding.”

The CARS program provides incentives to three car makers to locally produce three car models with a production volume of at least 200,000 units for up to six years, or an average of 33,333 vehicles per year. So far, only two car makers have been registered under the program, namely: Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. and Toyota Motor Philippines Corp.

The program provides auto and parts makers operating in the Philippines P4.5 billion

in annual support for six years, or P27 billion in total, as well as non-fiscal perks.

BoI’s move to offer similar incentives to encourage more growth in the local pharmaceutical and shipbuilding industries comes as part of its industrial cooperation dialogue with Japan that was kick- started by President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s visit to that country in October.

Designed to transport both people and wheeled cargo like cars and trucks, ro-ro ships in the country are now mostly secondhand imports, he said.

BoI’s incentive pitch for shipbuilding hopes to attract firms that will transfer technology needed for local manufacture.

Japan’s aging population has forced its shipbuilding industry to look for laborers outside the country, he noted, opening a window of opportunity for some 30,000 Filipinos looking for work.

“Ang maganda sa Japan kasi, kung titignan mo ‘ yung strategy niya for shipbuilding, gusto na rin niya palabasin ‘ yung mga shipbuilding companies kasi very labor-intensive ‘ yan. Matatanda na ‘ yung mga laborers nila. Dami mong welders na kailangan diyan (The beauty about Japan is it wants its shipbuilding companies to look outside for laborers because it’s very labor-intensive. Japan has an aging work force, and you would need a lot of welders for shipbuilding),” Mr. Rodolfo said.

On the part of pharmaceuticals, the trade official cited the high cost of medicine in the Philippines as the key problem which the envisioned manufacturing program hopes to address.

“So far, the policy mechanism by which we have been addressing the high cost of medicine has been through the parallel importation,” he said, referring to the purchase of legitimate products from abroad without a need to seek permission of intellectual property rights- holders concerned.

“Ngayon gusto natin lagyan din ng (now we want to add) another component through domestic manufacturing. Kaya we’re looking at this para tignan kung may possibility na ma- develop natin (That’s why we’re looking at the possibility of producing these drugs locally).”