Phl exporters brace for a roller-coaster ride
Philippine exports may have to see a "roller-coaster" performance this year following a decline in the first three months of 2018, an official from Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc-Cebu said.
Yesterday, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said the country’s total merchandise trade declined by 3.4 percent in March 2018, as exports contracted 8.2 percent and imports barely grew at just 0.1 percent from last year.
"I see a roller coaster kind of trend for as long as China and the US cannot iron out their differences," Philexport-Cebu executive director Fred Escalona told The FREEMAN in a phone interview yesterday.
Escalona was referring to the trade tensions between China and the US.
The National Economic and Development Authority said in a statement Wednesday the government should actively intervene in making Philippine exports more attractive to the global market to boost the country’s trade.
The value of exports in March fell by 8.2 percent, after a 26.9 percent growth in March 2017, on account of lower revenues from sales of manufactured goods, agro-based products, minerals and petroleum products.
Escalona said electronics exports had also seen a drop as well as other products including chemicals, gold, and metal components, among others.
"Electronics exports are a big part of total exports so a decline in this sector would adversely influence total export performance," the Philexport official said.
Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said: “As evident from the slowdown in trade figures of Asia, and even negative performance of the Philippines, China, and India in the latest exports figures, the Philippine government should double its efforts in marketing the country’s export products to international consumers,”
On the other hand, imports continued its eighth month of expansion, but only by 0.1 percent as payments for mineral fuels and lubricants kept total imports afloat against declines in all other commodity groups.
Pernia said that short-term measures to boost trade may include providing government support to promising export products whose demand is growing apace.
“This may include easing of government regulation, strengthened market intelligence gathering in partnership with the private sector, and maximizing the opportunities of trade agreements and economic groupings particularly within the Asian region,” he added.
He urged the Department of Trade and Industry to continuously encourage exporters to innovate and improve export quality by providing more access to testing, certification and accreditation facilities that will facilitate domestic compliance with international quality standards.
Pernia noted that the government is working on increasing the share of Halal goods to 11 percent of total exports through the recent establishment of the National Halal Certification Scheme.
He also highlighted the need to intensify the efforts of the country’s trade missions abroad, including business-matching initiatives in order to create new markets for Philippine-made goods.