MAP pushes aggressive export devt plan under PBBM admin

THE Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) is urging the government to formulate an aggressive new export development plan aimed to close the country’s wide export gap relative to its Asean peers.

In a statement released this week, MAP pressed the government to heed their call of formulating an aggressive new Philippine Export Development Plan, with the objective of closing the country’s wide export gap compared to the rest of its Asean peers.

The management organization added that in doing so, the country will be able to examine and address the entire export ecosystem encompassing the macroeconomic policy and governance environment down to sector and commodity-level strategies and programs.

Also among the recommendations under the Trade and Industry Policy category, MAP urged the government to immediately ratify and actively participate in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement and other trade agreements to tap wider market opportunities that will diversify the country’s exports in terms of products/services and destinations, and enhance the country’s attractiveness to foreign investments.

Meanwhile, in relation to Industry Roadmaps, MAP is pushing for the updating or crafting of industry road maps in key industries/sectors with the greatest strategic importance and/or potential massive job generation, including tourism, creative industries, agriculture and agribusiness, forestry, manufacturing, construction, responsible mining, business-process outsourcing (BPO) and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMES), among others.

MAP is also urging the government to expand the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) program to provide shared service fa ci lities(e.g ., tilling, drying, processing equipment) that can be provided to small producers at a low cost. Further, MAP called for the government to assist in streamlining supply chains to link producers more directly with their markets and eliminating unnecessary middlemen.

In relation to inclusive value chains, the management organization recommends for the expansion of the scope of concern of the Department of Agriculture that goes beyond farm production to cover the entire agricultural value chains.

Still under value chains, MAP suggested developing a high-level government body or a publicprivate partnership arrangement that will facilitate stronger publicprivate sector collaboration in setting policies, initiatives and programs to address constraints and improve supply chain performance of industries.

To monitor demand and supply conditions and gain visibility on supply market analysis, the management organization recommended the setting up a national supply chain “control tower.”

As the country continues to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, and the deep contraction it brought to the economy, MAP said policy and program support and public investments must prioritize the country’s two most important but also most challenged assets: its people and its lands.

“Health, nutrition, and education, especially of the young, are in crisis, and are interrelated problems that need to be urgently addressed because of their longterm consequences,” said MAP in the statement.

MAP also noted that the government should focus on the productivity of the country’s agricultural lands and coastal and inland waters as these sectors urgently need a substantial boost, especially in the face of a looming food crisis, as a consequence of recent world events.