Philippine Exporters Confederation
expects industry to hit $44-B target

Clark, Philippines - Sept. 14, 2005

The Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. (Philexport) sees brighter prospects in the local export industry which is expected to reach its $44-billion target this year.

"Our July figures show that we are on the track. We are not changing our target of 10 to 12 percent export growth this year," said Philexport president Sergio Ortiz-Luis.

Philippine Exporters Confederation (Philexport) is an umbrella organization of exporters nationwide. Ortiz-Luis said about 70 percent of the country's exporters are members of the organizaton. Included in Philexport's list of members are some 3,000 companies belonging to 40 trade organizations.

Ortiz-Luis said he has a positive outlook for the export industry, particularly in agriculture which is gaining grounds.

"Electronics remains our top export, accounting for about 60 percent of our exports. There has been a decline in the percentage share of electronics in the export volume, because there are other big sectors whose exports are going up," he said. Latest export statistics indicated eight percent share of agriculture in the country's exports.

He noted that exports have been growing in the "agriculture sector, as well as food and resource-based metal fabrication, including wiring harness."

Ortiz-Luis said export prospects are bright for producers of bananas, pineapples, and coconut. "Mango is also getting a bigger share of exports," he said, citing China as a major market for them.

In electronics, Ortiz-Luis downplayed fears of competition posed by China. "China is now competing with other markets but it is also becoming a huge market," he said.

"Many multi-national electronics companies may have moved there (China) but it does make sense for them to have operations here. In electronics, (cheap) labor is not that important because they (multi-national companies) can afford to pay labor. What is more important is the location of their downstream industries, suppliers," he said.

Ortiz-Luis pointed out that multi-national electronic firms "still think that Filipino workers are easier to train. To begin with, most multi-nationals are English-speaking so it is difficult for them to start all over in China."

Condensed from Philippine Star, by Ding Cervantes

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