Exporters push for industry reforms

THE Confederation of Philippine Exporters (Philexport) and the Export Development Council (EDC) will continue to push for industry reforms to boost the development of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Philexport president Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr. said exporters are anchoring their hopes on the country’s healthy growth story and the government’s programs to boost exports.

“From many indications, we would like to believe that this is indeed the golden age of MSMEs,” said Ortiz-Luis Jr.

For this year, Philexport and the EDC will push for maximizing the ben- efits of free trade agreements (FTAs), an intensified campaign against corruption and facilitation of infrastructure development, and capacity building for MSME and institutional disaster resilience.

These trade agreements include the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the Philippine-European FTA. The organization also looks forward to the full utilization of the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA).

“Breakthroughs in this front also lies on the successful removal of nontariff barriers that prevent us from en- tering new or expanding our markets,” he said.

Philexport, he said, has been advocating and promoting for a strong and sustainable MSME sector “in a way that they can effectively and efficiently participate in the regional and global production networks and compete with the rest of the world.”

With the right environment, the Philexport official expects the MSMEs’ share in the country’s employment and gross domestic (GDP) to increase from its current contribution of 35 percent to 40 percent, or even higher.

The export group chief added they will continue advocating for the implementation of existing labor laws to ensure the workers’ security of tenure as a middle ground to stopping illegal hiring practices, and the passage of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Act, Ease of Doing Business Act and amendments in the implementing rules and regulation (IRR) of the Magna Carta for MSMEs, among others.

As for Philexport Cebu, executive director Fred Escalona said innovation will be one of the organization’s initiatives this year. They want to train exporters how to be price competitive.

“Confidence building is also in the agenda of Philexport Cebu, in order to strengthen trade partnerships,” said Escalona.

Philexport Cebu’s hope for the year is for the region and the entire country to be prosperous with the help of government’s initiative to eliminate nontariff barriers to make exporting convenient and efficient.

Escalona also welcomed the government’s recent moves to renew and stregthen ties with other economies. He cited Russia as one of the potential markets for Philippine exports. The renewed ties with China, on the other hand, is also promising.

“We have traded for a long time with China but the trade relationship never took off over the years since there was a period of distrust between us and them. Now, with the agreements signed, trade with the two countries could take a major boost,” said Escalona.

The Duterte administration expects to achieve its $100-billion export revenue target by 2020.