Sun.Star Cebu

COMPETITIV­ENESS Exporters urge gov’t to subsidize trade fairs

- KATLENE O. C ACHO / Editor @katCacho

The Philippine­s has to be bolder in supporting and financing exporters, especially during internatio­nal trade fairs, to be at par with the exporters of other Asean countries, an official from the Philippine Exporters Confederat­ion, Inc. (Philexport)- Cebu said.

“We’d like to reiterate our plea to the government to help shoulder the cost of exporters when joining trade fairs. In this way, we can help them become competitiv­e,” said Philexport executive director Fred Escalona.

He noted the appeal for government to increase the budget to finance exporters’ participat­ion in internatio­nal trade shows has been a long-standing concern, which they hope the current administra­tion will now address.

“There are plenty of opportunit­ies for the exporters to shine in the internatio­nal arena but we need financial support. We need to to have bigger booths to attract buyers,” said Escalona.

The Philexport official said they have already raised this concern in the crafting of the Philippine Export Developmen­t Plan (PEDP) 2018-2022.

The roadmap is envisioned to come up with holistic, comprehens­ive, and inclusive strategies to align with the Philippine Developmen­t Plan 2018-2022 for enhanced competitiv­eness, support to small and medium enterprise­s (SMEs), effective public-private partnershi­ps and the significan­t role of the regions and local developmen­t.

At present, Escalona said the industry is preparing to participat­e in the upcoming China Internatio­nal Import Expo (CIIE) in November.

A report said that CIIE signals the Chinese government’s latest push towards a new era of high-level opening-up, and is an important landmark in the continual opening of the Chinese market to the world.

“This presents an opportunit­y for both China and the Philippine­s to collaborat­e on raw material usage,” said Escalona. “We can import raw materials from China and combine it with ours to create an interestin­g export-quality product,” he added.

The China Internatio­nal Import Expo is slated on Nov. 5 to 10 in Shanghai, China. The expo is expected to attract about 150,000 profession­al purchasers from over 100 countries and regions.

Aside from funding support, exporters also requested that government intensify its program for Filipino product branding, lowering logistics and power costs and eliminatin­g other trade barriers.

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