By Genalyn Kabiling There might be a slowdown in the growth of the country's export sector amid the global outbreak of the new coronavirus that broke out in China, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said Wednesday. Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez (ALFRED FRIAS / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN) Lopez, however, stayed optimistic that the country’s export industry will still register positive growth despite the virus’ impact on the country's major trading partner, China. "Kung globally nag-ii-slowdown at lalo na China which is our number one trading partner, maaapektuhan ‘yang exports and siyempre may mga competition din. Maaapektuhan ‘yung growth (If there will be a global slowdown especially in China which is our number one trading partner, our exports will be affected. There will be competition too. The growth will be affected)," he said in a Palace press briefing. "I would say magkakaroon ng slowdown. Hopefully positive pa rin ang growth. In other words, hindi na kasing lakas ng 1.5 or 2 percent, maaaring 1 percent or less than 1 percent (I would say there will be a slowdown. Hopefully the growth will still be positive. In other words, it will not be as strong as 1.5 percent or 2 percent. It might be 1 percent or less than 1 percent)," he added He noted that the country's exports to Wuhan, Hubei, which has been placed on lockdown, only account for one percent of the country's total trade with China. "We’re just hoping na maliit pa lang ‘yung tama (We are hoping the impact will be minimal)," he said. Apart from electronics goods, he noted that the country exports food products such as bananas to China. The country’s exports reached $70.3 billion in 2019, compared to $69.3 billion in 2018. The country’s top export markets are the United States, Japan, China, and Hong Kong. Lopez, meantime, expressed his confidence that the local economy will remain resilient despite the disease outbreak. He said the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) estimated a 0.7 percentage point loss in gross domestic product (GDP) growth if the outbreak lingers until the end of the year. "Given our mga estimated 6.5 percent, malakas pa din ‘yung growth ng Philippine economy. ‘Yung iba ay nagde-decline na po pati sa kanilang mga outputs at saka exports (Given our estimated 6.5 percent, the growth of the Philippine economy is still strong. The output and export of other countries have declined)," he said. "Fortunately, sa atin po ay malakas pa din (our growth remains strong). In fact, dito sa mga trading companies, Philippines and Vietnam na lang ang may positive growth sa exports (In fact of the trading companies, only the Philippines and Vietnam still have positive growth in exports)." READ MORE: Prepare for community-wide COVID-19 transmission, WHO tells PH