Atin Ito First Filipino Community Newspaper in Ontario
The Philippine Export Development Plan (PEDP) 2023-2028 of the administration has set an ambitious target of $240 billion at the end of its six-year term.
During the launch of the six-year PEDP, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. quipped that several export plans had been hatched previously, but the country’s exports sector still plays “catch up” with its Asian neighbors. This could be the reason that the new PEDP seeks to be different, focused, and stratified.
First, the new PEDP was approved in the year that it is supposed to begin, and will end in six years.
Second, PEDP 2023-2028 will focus on four priority industry sectors — industrial, manufacturing, and transportation (IMT); technology, media, and telecommunications (TMT); health and life sciences (HLS); and modern basic needs and resilient economy (MBNRE).
Third, government support and intervention will depend on the specific needs of each cluster.
The plan stipulates interventions and focused support that will be crafted for each of the priority industries. These support and intervention are stratified, meaning there are different strategic support for each of the four priority industry clusters, which are composed of the eight major sectoral export groups.
Most interesting in the new plan is the introduction of a relatively new export industry cluster — the MBNRE.
The MBNRE includes all domestic produce from agriculture and food processing to creatives and design. This is where the high value products with high local content will come in.
This priority industry cluster will be the playground of the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), which account for 96 percent of total businesses in the country.
This is the cluster that really needs government attention because aside from being small, it involves high value and high local content products. MBRNE products are truly indigenous to the Philippines and will represent not just the country’s products but also in regional culture.
Of the four clusters, the MBNRE may not be a big part of the country’s entire exports portfolio, but this is where Filipino MSMEs have been proven to be resilient. Since they are indigenous, these local products can withstand external shocks and challenges, including global supply chain disruptions.
But the export sector is mostly private sector-driven; without their cooperation and support the plan will just remain a goal.
Thus, to ensure that everyone is onboard, a Statement of Commitment to Implement the Philippine Export Development Plan signed last week by Trade and Industry Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual together with other key public and private sector representatives was presented to the President during the launching of the PEDP.
Another export plan has been hatched. Unless impactful intervention and support are implemented, the plan will remain a plan and the export sector will continue to catch up with its Asian neighbors.
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Credit belongs to : www.mb.com.ph
