THE umbrella organization of Cebu exporters is hoping more small and medium companies will join the five-year Dutch government-led Export Coaching Program (ECP) before it ends on 2016.
No Cebuano company in the engineering and metals sector has qualified for the ECP.
“We have been approaching our members but some of them are quite hesitant to join the ECP. Some said they are not yet ready to penetrate the European market. But, our office will continue to campaign for this program because this will be beneficial to their growth,” said PhilExport Cebu executive director Fred Escalona.
He said the Center for the Promotion of Imports from Developing Countries (CBI) is allotting P150 million to fund the ECP in the engineering/metals, tourism and food ingredients sectors.
CBI has partnered with PhilExport Cebu for the ECP implementation. The objective of the program is to determine the export potential of SME companies in the sector, increase their export market knowledge and help them market their products and services to regional markets like Japan, China and soon, in Europe.
According to Escalona, most of the companies that qualified for the ECP in the engineering/metal sectors are Manila-based firms, while the food ingredients sector are a good mix of Manila and Davao organizations. He, however, sees no movement in the participation in the tourism sector here.
“We fail to present regional data for the tourism sector,” he said.
Philexport hopes to send at least 15 Filipino companies per sector to join the five year program.
While the engineering/metals sector is Cebu’s strength, Escalona said they are still hopeful Cebu will be represented. He said they will tap the Metals Industry Association of the Philippines-Cebu Chapter to recommend companies to the program.
According to Escalona, Singapore is the country’s strongest competitor when it comes to the quality of engineering and metal work.
Among the benefits of companies in ECP include capacity building, trainings on quality management, export marketing plan, business matching and trade partnerships. Graduates of the program will also be recognized as CBI accredited exporters.
“This (program) will help improve the level of competitiveness of Filipino companies,” said Escalona. He said the program is also a “good preparation” for the upcoming Asean 2015 integration.
The Philippines is one of the beneficiaries of CBI’s ECP, along with Pakistan, Indonesia and Vietnam.
