THE Philippines has to be bolder in supporting and financing exporters, especially during international trade fairs, to be at par with the exporters of other Asean countries, an official from the Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. (Philexport)- Cebu said.
“We’d like to reiterate our plea to the government to help shoulder the cost of exporters when joining trade fairs. In this way, we can help them become competitive,” said Philexport executive director Fred Escalona.
He noted the appeal for government to increase the budget to finance exporters’ participation in international trade shows has been a long-standing concern, which they hope the current administration will now address.
“There are plenty of opportunities for the exporters to shine in the international arena but we need financial support. We need to to have bigger booths to attract buyers,” said Escalona.
The Philexport official said they have already raised this concern in the crafting of the Philippine Export Development Plan (PEDP) 2018-2022.
The roadmap is envisioned to come up with holistic, comprehensive, and inclusive strategies to align with the Philippine Development Plan 2018-2022 for enhanced competitiveness, support to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), effective public-private partnerships and the significant role of the regions and local development.
At present, Escalona said the industry is preparing to participate in the upcoming China International Import Expo (CIIE) in November.
A report said that CIIE signals the Chinese government’s latest push towards a new era of high-level opening-up, and is an important landmark in the continual opening of the Chinese market to the world.
“This presents an opportunity for both China and the Philippines to collaborate on raw material usage,” said Escalona. “We can import raw materials from China and combine it with ours to create an interesting export-quality product,” he added.
The China International Import Expo is slated on Nov. 5 to 10 in Shanghai, China. The expo is expected to attract about 150,000 professional purchasers from over 100 countries and regions.
Aside from funding support, exporters also requested that government intensify its program for Filipino product branding, lowering logistics and power costs and eliminating other trade barriers.