Five sectors in line for more fiscal perks

The Philippines aims to improve its share globally in the manufacturing of products across five industries by coming up with fiscal incentives and programs that would entice investors.

The Board of Investments (BOI) presented results of global value chain (GVC) studies on the aerospace, automotive, chemicals, electronics and paper industries conducted by the Duke University Center on Globalization, Governance and Competitiveness (Duke CGGC).

The five sectors were chosen because of their potential for export earnings, employment creation, technology transfer, and value addition to raw materials.

“It looks bright and very good for the Philippines because you’re in the middle of factory Asia. Also, you have something that other Asian countries don’t have, you have cultural affinity with the Western world and this can be a very good location for being a hub of innovation and being a hub of human capital development,” said Karina FernandezStark, senior analyst at Duke CGGC.

The GVC studies, which analyzed constraints and recommend strategies for value chain upgrading and improving competitiveness, are intended to assist the BOI in its efforts to further develop its framework and strategies in promoting the five identified industries.

“The findings of the studies carried out by the Duke CGGC are important in formulating policies and programs on how firms, SMEs in particular, can participate in GVCs and, for those that are already participating, how to upgrade and move up the value chain. The research studies provide evidence which serve as basis to improve our industry development strategies towards a more globally competitive Philippine manufacturing industry,” Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Assistant Secretary Rafaelita Aldaba said.

The Philippine electronics industry has the largest share among the five sectors but only accounts for one percent of the global market, the studies showed

The shares of the Philippine automotive, chemicals, electronics and paper industries to the global market, meanwhile, are all less than one percent.