Philexport bags best regional enterprise award

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. (Philexport) has been awarded by Oxford-based Europe Business Assembly (EBA) the prestigious Best Regional Enterprise Award in recognition of its work in export development and promotion.

The voluntary association of political, scientific and business leaders from all over the world recognized Philexport also for its effectiveness, leadership, managerial capacity, and corporate social responsibility.

The EBA has a special consultative status in the Economic and Social Council of the UN (UNECOSOC) which was created in 1945 as one of six principal bodies of the UN.

The country’s umbrella organization of exporters was nominated by international development partners and among the Best Enterprise Award and Manager of the Year winners from developed and developing  countries including Canada, Singapore, India, Romania, Qatar, Ukraine, Malaysia and Brazil.

EBA investigates and promotes prominent companies and created a special online platform for the exchange of the modern experience and presentation of winners` potential and achievements.

Philexport president and CEO Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr. also received the Manager of the Year Award complementing the Philexport citation.

Award attributes, designed by the famous London jeweller Alfred Winiecki, confirm the business support organization’s outstanding achievements to partners, clients, and employees. These include a trophy and three-year license to use the EBA and Award trademark.

The roadmap aims to control the epidemic, restart and expand economic activities, and finally transition exports and MSMEs to a digital economy.

Consistent with the call to continuously reopen the economy, Philexport also pushed for the urgent approval of stimulus bills and other measures that will fund recovery programs especially for the health, MSMEs, agriculture, tourism, transportation and unemployed sectors.

The MSME sector, comprising about 99 percent of all industries in the country, has been identified among the three hardest hit sectors of the COVID-19 pandemic, aside from tourism and transportation.

Philexport, which sits as vice chairman of the Export Development Council (EDC), has likewise initiated, supported and facilitated the passage of laws and policies that have contributed to the development of exports. These include the EDA, Jewelry Industry Development Act, Magna Carta for MSMEs, E-commerce Law, Customs Modernization and Tariff Act, accession to the Kyoto Convention for trade facilitation, Barangay Micro Business Enterprise Act, Customs Modernization and Tariff Act, and E-Commerce Act. The EDA gave birth to the EDC, the highest export-policymaking body in the land, World Trade Center and the National Packaging Center.

The WTC serves as a major trade events venue and was briefly used as a quarantine facility last year mostly for returning Overseas Filipino Workers.

The umbrella organization of Philexport also led the push for the country’s accession to the World Trade Organization in 1994, setting the tone for the liberalization of the banking, retail, telecommunications and transportation sectors.