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Friday, March 19, 2004
RP top exporter to Japan
THE Philippines is the top exporter to Japan when it comes to fresh pineapples and bananas, wood carpentry and magnetic disc units.
This was revealed by Dr. Erlinda Medalla, project director of the Philippine Apec Study Center Network, a component of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), during a conference yesterday at Sarrosa International Hotel.
She said Japan was the second largest trading partner of the Philippines, absorbing 15 percent of Philippine exports from 1998-2002, and accounting for 19 percent of Philippine imports in 2000.
Medalla cited these figures in line with a study conducted to determine the feasibilty and desirability of establishing a Japan-Philippine Economic Partnership Agreement (Jpepa).
The Jpepa would go beyond a free trade agreement and include other issues like the non-tariff barriers to goods, services and investment, and other areas like information technology, tourism and support for small and medium enterprises.
Medalla said such a partnership would benefit Japan more than the Philippines because “almost 80 percent of our (Philippine) exports to Japan are already enjoying a zero tariff rate.”
In contrast, only half of the items the Philippines imports from Japan enter duty free, she said.
In a paper, Dr. Cesar Cororaton of the PIDS said the proposed partnership with Japan would result in local prices falling by 0.12 percent and import prices by 1.51 percent, while the volume of Philippine exports to Japan would grow 0.99 percent.
Medalla admitted the effects seemed small, but she said the free trade deal may cause more investment to flow into the Philippines, so the impact would actually be larger.
Japan is the country’s top foreign direct investor, according to the Board of Investments, with investments of P17.05 billion in 2002 followed by Taiwan’s P12.20 billion and the United States’ P3.63 billion.
Medalla said the potential gainers of a partnership with Japan were the electronics, agriculture and fresh fruits industries.
Japan is the single largest buyer of Philippine shrimps and prawns at 71 percent, and fresh fruits and vegetables at 60 percent, according to Dr. Rosalina Tan of the Ateneo de Manila University.
Furniture and house-ware, and the construction materials industry are also seen to gain, along with the informal service sector, which might expand.
But the cement industry might face more competition. Players in the motor vehicle components industry could also lose out unless the technical capabilities of local workers are developed and local firms are linked to Japanese manufacturing networks and the Asean Industrial Cooperation Scheme, Medalla said. CTL
(March 19, 2004 issue)
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