DTI holds summit on prospects of PHL’S manufacturing industry

THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), in partnership with the Board of Investments (BOI) will hold the annual Manufacturing Summit on Tuesday, June 21, 2022, to gather stakeholders from the public and private sectors across the country as they discuss the prospects for the Philippine manufacturing industry.

With the theme “Shaping the Future of Philippine Industries: The Road to Resiliency through Innovation,” the summit will focus on the nation’s industrialization journey and integration of digital transformation in the country’s industrial policy amid the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

In addition, there will be a discussion on innovation and entrepreneurship strategies, policies, and programs being implemented by DTI, Department of Science and Technology (DOST), and Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and how these could be applied to enhance the competitiveness of the Philippine manufacturing industry in the post-pandemic future.

The summit will also witness the signing of a memorandum of understandingonstrengtheningcollaboration and Cooperation on Innovation between the DTI and the Us-asean Business Council (US-ABC).

The US-ABC has been the premier advocacy organization for US corporations operating within the dynamic Asean region. Across the globe, the council’s membership of more than 170 companies generates almost $7 trillion in revenue and employs more than 14.5 million people.

Today, US-ABC’S members include the largest US companies conducting business in Asean, and range from newcomers to the region to companies that have been working in Southeast Asia for more than 100 years.

For his part, Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said that the manufacturing industry has a significant role to play in the country’s economic recovery, highlighting that it remains the most important sector for long-term productive employment, among others.

“The Philippine manufacturing industry remains the most important sector for long-term productive employment, value-added generation, and innovation. We continue to be optimistic with the country now progressing towards economic recovery as proven by the expansion in our manufacturing sector… propelled by more economic sectors’ reopening,” said Lopez.

For her part, Dti-competitiveness and Innovation Group (DTICIG) Undersecretary Rafaelita Aldaba said that the summit has always been the avenue to enable productive discussion and exchanging of insights among stakeholders from government, industry, and the academe, whose coordination and collaboration are crucial for advancing an innovative and competitive manufacturing sector.

The trade undersecretary said that the past six years was “quite a journey,” especially with the onslaught of the pandemic. But she said that it has been worthwhile as they have “transformed every challenge into an opportunity to revisit familiar paths and make appropriate adjustments where necessary to meet the exigencies of the time.”

Aldaba noted that with relevant policy interventions in place, “our road to resiliency looks brighter than ever before.”

She also emphasized that with the ever-changing economic landscape, “the only way for us is to innovate in order to make our industries more adaptive, resilient, and competitive.”

In a report last month, S&P Global announced that the Philippines’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell “fractionally” from 54.3 in April to 54.1 in May. Despite the slower growth, this is the second-fastest rate of PMI in the country since November 2018.

Economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence Maryam Baluch said that the survey data signaled a further expansion across the Philippines’ manufacturing sector. “Growth remained strong despite output and new orders increasing at slightly softer rates,” she added.

A country’s PMI is meant to gauge the health of its manufacturing sector. It is calculated as a weighted average of five individual subcomponents: Readings above 50 show growth in the industry while readings below the 50 threshold signal a contraction in the manufacturing sector.