EDC says 40% jump needed to reach $143-B export target in 2024
In order to reach the $143.4 billion export target for this year, exports need to jump by 40 percent, according to a senior official of the Export Development Council (EDC).
This insight was said by EDC Vice Chair and Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport) President Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis Jr. during the seventh Farm Tourism Conference in Bohol, according to EDC’s post.
Ortiz-Luis noted that the initial 10 percent export growth target in 2024 is not adequate to meet the expected amount of exports as indicated in the Philippine Export Development Plan (PEDP) for 2023 to 2028.
This is related to the 7.6 percent decline to $73.52 billion in exports recorded last year. In December 2023 also, export sales went down to $5.78 billion, he added.
He also acknowledged the issues persistent in the agriculture sectors like “sluggish growth, low incomes for farmers and fisherfolk, and inadequate inputs, finance, and technologies.”
Moreover, Ortiz-Luis emphasized that reforms are crucial to improve exports and overall make the country a conducive and attractive investment hub for domestic and foreign businesses.
According to EDC's export performance data for January 2024, total exports were logged at $5.93 billion, which was 9.1 percent higher than $5.44 billion recorded in January 2023.
Around 58.2 percent of the export products were electronics, making it the top export good of the month, followed by manufactured goods, machinery and transport, ignition wiring and other sets, and mineral products.
Top export markets are the United States with a 15.2 percent market share, followed by Japan (14.6 percent), Hong Kong (12.8 percent), China (10.5 percent), and South Korea (six percent).
A way to promote greater exports was by developing the agriculture and farming sector through holding a farm tourism conference, supported by Philexport, Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Agriculture – Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, and Department of Tourism.
Hosted in Bohol, which was recognized as the Philippines’ first UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Global Geopark in 2023, the conference tackled ways to empower farming communities, highlight food tourism, agricultural and marine production, and grow green investments.