EXPORT TARGETS TOUGH, FOR NOW
An industry leader in Cebu says the 5-10 percent target growth in the gifts, decor and houseware exports roadmap will be difficult in the short term. Plan calls for gov’t support, plus pricing and marketing review.
Massive government support is needed to realize the 10 percent annual growth target set by the government-led gifts, decor, and houseware (GDH) roadmap 20142030, an official of the Cebu GDH said yesterday.
Under the roadmap, the GDH sector is aiming to achieve at least five to 10 percent annual growth in exports until 2030.
“In the world market, global demand for gifts and housewares remains high, yet, the Philippines had not been able to capture a sizeable market share,” said the roadmap. “The country should have a more aggressive stance in winning the buyers back.”
Pete Sepulveda, past president of Cebu GDH and now a trustee, said it will be difficult to hit the target at least in the short term, since the sector has not seen significant growth in the past decade.
“The market is bad,” said Sepulveda. He said the industry has experienced slower or even flat growth in recent years. “If there is growth it is only enjoyed by some companies and not everybody (in the industry).”
Goodbye, glory days
GDH membership in Cebu, according to Sepulveda, has dropped from 100 to 40 member-companies. Of the 40, only half are active members.
Some GDH members have diversified into other businesses outside the export sector. Others have converted their factories into commercial establishments.
“GDH exports are not going to disappear, but players would no longer experience the glory days (seen) before,” he said.
He said these growth targets set by the roadmap would be attainable only if the government would invest massively in helping exporters—in terms of more training, product development, government-subsidized trade missions, and other marketing initiatives.
Sepulveda added that it is also equally important that government initiatives be aligned with industry requirements.
To reverse the fall in export sales, the roadmap encouraged GDH players to participate in government-subsidized outbound trade missions specifically targeting the US buyers and non-traditional markets.
The US remains the biggest export market for the Philippines, with 58 percent of exports going to this market. Apart from the US, other importing countries for housewares are Germany, Canada, United Kingdom, Japan, France, Qatar, Netherlands, Italy, and Poland.
The roadmap underscored that marketing has been identified as one of the weakest points of the industry.