PH keeps $80.2-b export target amid shrinking mart

The Trade Department is keeping an exports target of $80.2 billion this year despite the drop in shipments in 2011 and the possible impact of a bill in the US Congress on the business process outsourcing industry in the Philippines.

Senen Perlada, director of the Bureau of Export Trade Promotion, an attached agency of the department, said over radio station dzRB that “the private sector and the DTI will keep the absolute target for 2012.”

“To compensate for the loss of revenues from merchandise exports, service exports must be increased. Services exports, which include information technology and business process outsourcing, presently only account for 20 percent of our total exports. Electronics exports account for almost half of our total exports,” he said.

“This trend in the services exports will cushion the decline in export receipts and help us meet our targets in 2012,” he said.

While the passage of House Bill 3596, or “Call Center and Consumers Protection Bill” in the US Congress is seen as a threat in the country’s booming BPO industry, Perlada said “it will ultimately be a business decision on the part of the companies.”

“What we can do is to improve on the attractiveness of the Philippines as a destination of business process outsourcing,” Perlada said.

Perlada said the Philippines should expand its exports to China amid the economic and debt crises in the US and Europe.

He said North Asia, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand are strategic markets for Philippine exports. The Philippines has free trade agreements with these countries, which account for 57 percent of merchandise exports.

“So far, utilization of exporters of FTAs with partner countries has reached 30 percent based on our discussions with the private sector but this may have to be validated by the Bureau of Customs,” he said.

Perlada said the Trade Department would conduct information sessions on doing business in free trade areas to help small and medium enterprises and exporters understand and use the opportunities in the trade agreements.

He said tourists could also be considered investors in the country’s tourism industry, aside from being the first line for distribution of goods and services.

“With the help of our tourism and commercial attachés abroad, we see a ramp in tourism investment in the Philippines,” he said. –Julito G. Rada, Manila Standard Today