EU project to help develop PH’s export capacity
ARISE Plus Philippines, a four-year project funded by the European Union (EU), will help the Philippines develop its export potential, a member of the EU delegation in Manila said on Thursday.
“Just a few days ago, we had the first steering committee so they will be in a way the official start of the project. I was surprised by the larger number of participants to the steering committee, not only from the institutional side, from the DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) and other related agencies, but also the participation by small and medium sized enterprises and all social stakeholders who are very much interested in the project which will act focus on the development of the export capacity of the Philippines in the European Union market,” said EU delegation in Manila head of Trade Section Maurizio Cellini at the Asean Trade Repository and Asean Solutions for Investments, Services and Trade (Assist) outreach event on Thursday.
The project, which started in March this, year and is being implemented by the International Trade Center aims to facilitate the identification and leveraging of export priorities, support the set-up of a National Quality Infrastructure (NQI) as well as internationally aligned quality management and control systems for exported food products.
The total budget for the project is EUR 5.8 million (P348 million).
Arise Plus Philippines also seeks to strengthen institutional and private sector capacities on trade facilitation for the implementation of national legislation and international trade commitments.
The project, which mostly benefits micro, small and medium enterprises, seeks to take advantage of the EU market and the trade privileges granted under the Generalized System of Preference or GSP+.
“Not only will there be a larger coverage of interest in European Union market but all the potentiality is that the Philippines might still have to develop their own export capacity. So this project as I said, it’s the very beginning. We are very happy that it is possible to set it up and we look forward to implementation,” said Cellini.