AS export demand weakens, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has reiterated to entrepreneurs the need to produce “green” products, which are now the more preferred items among importers in developed economies.
DTI 7 Director Asteria Caberte said European and the American importers are more likely to tap exporters that manufacture green products or those that have integrated climate-smart practices in their operations.
“I’d like to emphasize that if your market says that you have to go green, you are pushed against the wall. You have to go through the green lane,” Caberte said during a press conference on Tuesday of the Promotion of Green Economic Development (ProGED) project, a four-year joint undertaking between the Federal Government of Germany and the Philippine government.
Green processes embrace less use of energy and water, and adopts sound solid waste management, among key major metrics.
The trade agency believes having more MSMEs and exporters adopting green measures will make them “more competitive.”
Presently, Philippine exports suffer from sluggish performance. Data from the Philippine Statistics Agency (PSA) show exports in August fell by 4.4 percent year-on-year to $4.904 billion from $5.128 billion a year ago.
Meanwhile, total merchandise exports from January to August registered a 7.8-percent decrease from $39.500 billion recorded in 2015 to $36.409 billion.
Caberte said buying patterns of consumers have changed, with preferences on eco-friendly or green products, subsequently redefining the market.
The regional trade chief said there are some companies in the country that are regularly visited by their foreign clients for production audits, aiming to assess the Philippine establishments’ adoption of green procedures.
As the German government ends its ProGED project this Dec. 31, project manager Volker Steigerwald announced that there are 544 MSMEs that have adopted green measures in their operations, from as little as behavioral change adhering to climate smart practices, to adopting and investing green technology.