Export target to be kept at $62 B this year

MANILA, Philippines - Not deterred by a retreat in overall export performance last year, the semi-government Export Development Council (EDC) maintains its original target of $62 billion earnings in the export of goods for this year.

The overall target of all exports including information technology driven industries like BPOs, call centers and animation, was pegged at a hefty $80.9 billion.

The target was made early last year when the 2011-2013 export development plan was rolled off. It formed part of a more ambitious target of more doubling Philippine exports from its 2010 base of $52 million to $120 million by the year 2016.

The EDC secretariat revealed the EDC board (composed of leaders of different exporting industries and their partners in government led by the Department of Trade and Industry) were not discouraged by the 6.86 decline in export revenues last year, from $51.5 billion in 2010.

Ernesto Santiago, president of the Semiconductor and Electronics Industry of the Philippines (SEIPI), said SEIPI is expecting recovery of their industry by the second quarter of this year and would still manage to grow at close to 10 percent by the second half of the year.

The EDC pointed out that the lackluster performance of electronics was behind the retreat last year. Exports of the biggest sector hit a high of 23.35 percent year-round, pulling down overall export performance.

Most other industries, however, defied the global trade slowdown, many of them posting double-digit growths.

Garments, the second largest segment of the export sector, posted an 11.38 percent growth on sales worth $1.89 billion while agricultural exports made an all-time high of $4.9 billion on the back of a record-breaking 37.22 percent year-on-year growth.

Forest products also made a spectacular showing, growing by 79. 64 percent on the strength of the strong performance of the export of plywood and veneer. Revenues shot up from $28 million to $50 million. – Philexport News and Features