Exports dropped 20.7%

Friday, February 10, 2012

PHILIPPINE exports dropped sharply in December last year as the crucial electronics sector struggled with soft demand in Japan, the United States and other key markets, official data showed Friday.

Export earnings fell 20.7 percent year-on-year to $4.2 billion in December, dragging the decline for all of 2012 down to 6.9 percent, the National Statistics Office said in a statement.

Have something to report? Tell us in text, photos or videos.

Philippine exports had been dropping since May, but the December fall was the second steepest for the year after a 27.0-percent plunge in September.

The electronics sector, which makes up nearly half of the country’s exports, tumbled 32.7 percent in December from a year earlier, following a 34.4-percent drop the previous month, it added.

Copper, gold and furniture were the only major exports that registered double-digit gains in December, it added.

The country’s exports target for 2012 is $80.2 billion.

Business with UN

As one way to help hit that target, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is encouraging all exporters in the region to join the seminar on “Doing Business with the United Nations” on Feb. 22.

DTI Provincial Director Nelia Navarro said the seminar will to brief export companies on the business opportunities and the procurement activities of the UN Procurement Division.

These include values, policies, process, buying profile and business opportunities, among others. It also aims to register qualified vendors online by the close of the seminar.

Navarro noted Cebuano exporters have not maximized yet the huge UN market. “This seminar is an opportunity for our businessmen to know more of the opportunities and trade potential for this market,” she said.

DTI will be conducting information sessions in Pasay, Cebu and Davao. The Cebu session will be on Feb. 22 at the Cebu Parklane International Hotel, organized by the DTI’s Bureau of Export Trade Promotion and the UN Procurement Division.

United Nations Procurement Representatives Toshio Mikami Chief Logistics and Transportation Section and Procurement Assistant Ava Anterola will be among the speakers in the seminar.

Navarro said they are targeting 100 participants from companies that are ready to cater to international requirements or undertake overseas projects in sectors like architecture, engineering and construction services; food and catering; motor vehicles, parts and transportation equipment; electronic data processing equipment and maintenance; computer and information technology services; furniture and furnishings; management consultancy services; and security and safety equipment and services.

Finding buyers

“The logistics need of the UN is enormous,” said Philexport-Cebu executive director Fred Escalona, in a separate interview.

Escalona noted that UN’s procurement budget stood at $3.2 billion in 2008. He added great opportunities are also in non-traditional trade channels such as the Armed Forces of other countries and big foreign non-government offices, among others.

“It is just a matter of finding these buyers,” Escalona said.

The UN Procurement Division is the largest buying resource in the United Nations system.

It oversees the contracts for the acquisition of a wide variety of goods, works and services for the UN Headquarters, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations HQs and peacekeeping missions, the Office Away from Headquarters, the UN Tribunals and commissions worldwide, and other organizations seeking procurement support services.

UN representatives will be in talks with the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Philexport-Cebu.

According to the DTI, this is another initiative of the department to help exporters look for other potential markets while waiting for the economic recovery of the United States and Europe.

The DTI has been helping the country expand its exports in China and also to countries where the Philippines has free trade agreements such as Japan, Korea, Australia, and New Zealand. (AFP)