DTI eyeing Palace approval for export development plan

THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) expects President Rodrigo R. Duterte to soon sign the new Philippine Export Development Plan (PEDP) 2018-2022, which lays out the medium-term strategy for meeting export targets.

In a mobile message, Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said he is hoping for approval “soon” as Mr. Duterte has directed “all agencies to work together to implement the plan.”

Endorsed by the Export Development Council, the PEDP 2018-2022 is a five-year road map that will help the Philippines raise its level of exports to $122 billion by 2022.

The strategy deals in part with the removal of regulatory impediments, enhanced trade facilitation, improved access to trade finance and exports’ competitiveness.

Another approach will improve exporters’ understanding of the country’s free trade arrangements to help them to take advantage of these deals.

Aside from these key strategies, the plan also identified as urgent the passage of a National Quality Infrastructure Bill, to harmonize standards, testing, certification and quality accreditation, all of which are expected to improve consumer protection, free trade, and environmental protection.

The PEDP also calls for the implementation of the Ease of Doing Business Law which Mr. Duterte signed on May 28.

The plan also cited the government’s other programs such as the Regional Interactive Platform for Philippine Exporters of the DTI, the Agribusiness Support for Promotion and Investment in Regional Expositions of the Department of Agriculture, and the National Single Window Program of the Department of Finance, as bolstering the country’s export competitiveness.

“This intensifies the mandate to the Export Development Council and the DTI to strictly implement and efficiently cascade action plans as it becomes integral in attaining the medium-term plan in PDP and in the long-run, in attaining the Ambisyon 2040,” Mr. Lopez, also the chairman of the EDC, was quoted as saying in a separate statement.

“With the new plan, we aim to level up our initiatives and address recurring issues through concrete and efficient action plans that will benefit both the public and the private sector,” he added.

In 2017, export revenue from merchandise and services was $98.84 billion, against $92.15 billion targeted in the previous PEDP. —