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Tuesday, April 19, 2005
10% growth targeted by exporters this year
DESPITE a tiny retreat of 0.6 percent in exports last February compared to the same month last year, the nation's exporters stuck to their target of hitting a double-digit growth of 10 percent this year.
This according to leaders of each of the top dollar-earning industries in a dialogue with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) last week that was called to counter-check the ability of actual exporters in meeting targets set by the government.
The sector set a similar target last year but midway, the government scaled it down to five percent. By the end of last year, exports hit a 9.3 percent growth, closer to the target made by the exporters.
Shown the six percent target for the electronics industry, the Semiconductor and Electronics Industry of the Philippines, Incorporated (SEIPI) told BSP officials that the industry's goal is to hit 10 percent growth.
"It will be a silent year, meaning no spectacular growth. But we are not downscaling our growth target," SEIPI representatives to the dialogue said. They are not revising their target despite the decision of a laptop maker to relocate to China.
The electronics industry accounted for 65 percent of all exports last year.
The growth rate, they claimed, will be much higher in 2006. And 2007 will even be better.
The whole export sector has targeted a total revenue of US$ 50 billion by the end of next year, but this will include services like tourism, healthcare and ICT-enabled services.
Another cash cow, the furniture industry, said that it could post a 10 percent growth this year if the selective log ban in place in some exporting regions get lifted to allow them to source their wood and forest-based raw materials locally.
But if the ban stays, they said the furniture industry is bound to shrink, instead of grow.
Other industries saw as fairly accurate the growth projections on other major exports. (Philexport)
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (April 19, 2005 issue)
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