NEDA calls for speeding up of export programs

There is a need to speed up the implementation of necessary programs and policies to improve the competitiveness of Philippine exports, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said on Monday.

In a statement, Emmanuel Esguerra, NEDA officer-in-charge and deputy director general, stressed that by accelerating the export programs, the country will be able to take advantage the increasing regional and global integration.

“No doubt the exporters have been affected negatively by the strong peso, but this can be overcome by the positive impact resulting from better infrastructure, efficient logistics, lower power costs, and other measures to reduce the cost of doing business,” he added.

In connection to this, NEDA also announced that Indonesia and the Middle East have been identified as potential markets for the country’s agro-based exports.

The agency added that the growth of agro-based exports may be sustained with the opening up these new markets for sugar and bananas.

“In addition to South Korea and India, Indonesia and the Middle East, were also identified as potential market for sugar,” Esguerra stated.

NEDA explained that the Philippine International Trading Corp. (PITC) and the Sugar Regulatory Administration identified these markets, however, the PITC is still coordinating with the buyers in these countries on their specific requirements.

It also noted that the United States, Russia, China, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia and India are among the major importers of raw (cane) sugar, according to statistics of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.

For exports of bananas, the agency continued that an initial shipment of 3,000 metric tons to the US is targeted for April 2013, according to the Bureau of Plant Industry.

Meanwhile, the records from FAO tag the US as one of the top 20 importers of bananas.

“This is also in line with US Department of Agriculture’s announcement that allows Philippine highland Cavendish bananas to be shipped to their country,” Esguerra stated.

The National Statistics Office recently reported that exports of centrifugal and refined sugar, and bananas grew by 27,094.6 percent and 95.5 percent year-on-year in February 2013, respectively.

This made total agro-based exports rise by 43.7 percent, amounting to $343.9 million in February 2013. –MAYVELIN U. CARABALLO REPORTER, Manila Times