INTRAMUROS VISITORS PROJECTED TO REACH 4.2 MILLION IN 2020

The intramuros Administration (IA) is projecting close to 4.2 million visitors to the Walled City in 2020, up 10 percent from the 3.78 million who visited in 2019.

IA Administrator lawyer Guiller B. Asido expects a boost in arrivals this year, especially with the availability of experience Philippines, an augmented reality (AR) application available on the iOS and Android platforms. The app houses a treasure chest of visuals and information about the famed Walled City of Manila.

“Culture buffs will enjoy intramuros more with this app as they will be able to see how Fort Santiago and other historical sites looked like before,” he said.

This innovative tourism application is a joint project of the Department of Tourism (DOT) and IACADEMY, a school that offers specialized courses on computing, business and design. Both parties signed a memorandum of understanding in October 2019 for IACADEMY students to produce materials to boost the government agency’s tourism efforts.

This developed as IA was allocated more funds this year, especially for its conservation program and its promotions pegged on the #WeAreintramuros branding campaign, which began in 2017. Under the national expenditure Program for 2020, IA has a budget of P81.83 million, up 22.31 percent from last year.

Of its total budget for 2020, P15.21 million will go to IA’s property and conservation development program and some P3.9 million are allocated for tourism promotions.

in 2019, arrivals in intramuros jumped by 32 percent; Asido attributed this to the “increase in number of events and programs.” IA, a unit of the DOT, also generated an income of P100.95 million last year, up 7.1 percent from 2018.

Meanwhile, for experience Philippines, the AR feature currently works only on the DOT logo and certain sites in intramuros. These include the Gallery of Presidents, the Fort Santiago Gate, the Ayuntamiento, the Manila Cathedral, San Agustin Church, and the Churches of Our lady of lourdes, of San ignacio, of San Francisco, and of Recollects. To activate, simply tap on the “ARTECH” button and point at the tourist site.

in a news statement, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat said, “With the experience Philippines app, tourists can relive the past of intramuros city with just a tap on their mobile phone screens.”

She added, “We hope to be able to expand this cutting-edge technology to other tourist sites around the country with the help of IACADEMY.” Tourist sites the DOT is eyeing for AR development include the Banaue Rice Terraces, Corregidor, Mt. Samat, Puerto Princesa, Pampanga and Mt. Pinatubo.

For its part, IACADEMY asserted that technology can be used to promote sustainable tourism. “We saw the opportunity to give back and share our expertise on tech and design to provide cutting-edge materials that can help boost our tourism efforts,”said IACADEMY Chief Operating Officer Raquel Wong. “Production of short films and augmented reality content to showcase the Philippines not only makes it more accessible and experiential but it’s also sustainable because it doesn’t require mass print production,” she added.

THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is reminding exporters that by July 1, 2020, the European Union will no longer accept the Certificate of Origin Form A as basis for origin certification under the EU Generalized System of Preferences + (EU GSP+).

Agnes R. Legaspi, assistant director of the DTI’s Export Marketing Bureau (EMB), in a presentation on January 24, 2020, said that to avail of the preferential tariff under the GSP+, an exporter needs to issue a Statement on Origin bearing his or her unique Registered Exporter System (REX) number.

The EU REX is a system of self-certification of origin by exporters, with the statement on origin replacing Certificate of Origin Form A. Under REX, exporters, to be entitled to apply to the system, must be registered in a database by their competent authorities.

There is no change to the rules for determining origin, said Legaspi. To become a registered an exporter should provide the following documentary requirements—latest income tax return, Unique Reference Number (URN) as Philippine Economic Zone Authority locators, and Client Profile Registration System for non-Peza locators, business permit, list of products applied for authorization to make the invoice declaration, product evaluation report.

The registration procedure calls for the exporter to fill in an application and submit it to his or her competent authorities. If the application is complete, the competent authorities encode it in the REX system, and assign a REX number, a registration date, and a validity date. The competent authorities will inform the exporter of his or her registration or non-registration.

Exporters who have been informed of their registration shall be assigned a REX number within seven working days of receipt of the complete set of documentary requirements.

For traders, Legaspi said: “Those applying in REX who are not manufacturers or producers must have knowledge on how the goods were manufactured or produced and how these comply with the origin rules...”

The web site on the REX system can be found at https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/business/calculation-customs-duties/ rules-origin/general-aspects-preferential-origin/arrangements-list/generalised-systempreferences/the_register_exporter_system_en.

Further, the Bureau of Customs recently released the guidelines on the implementation of the REX system for exporters under the EU GSP. Customs Memorandum Order 50-2019 can be accessed at http://customs. gov.ph/customs-memorandum-order-cmo/.

The EU GSP+ is granted to low and lower-middle income countries, including the Philippines on a unilateral basis as a special incentive arrangement in the form of zero duties, with the aim of promoting sustainable development and good governance in the beneficiary countries.

It also seeks to assist in the export-led growth, and development of developing and least developed countries through export revenue increase, export diversification and job generation. For the Philippines, the GSP+ means that over 6,000 categories of goods are eligible for export to the EU without tariffs.