ExportUnlimited BusinessMirror
Editor: Efleda P. Campos • Wednesday, November 22, 2017 A9
PHL Construction Congress to draw up 2017-2022 construction road map
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ITH the dawn of the Philippines’s golden age of infrastructure, the Department of Trade and IndustryConstruction Industry Authority of the Philippines (DTI-CIAP) is leading the creation of the country’s construction road map in the second Philippine Construction Congress at the Philippine International Convention Center on November 28. The Philippine Construction Congress returns to converge the country’s key industry players and lay out the conceptual framework in drafting the Philippines’s Construction Industry Roadmap for 20172022, anchored on the P8.4-trillion infrastructure projects under the Duterte administration’s “Build, Build, Build” program. “With a conceptual framework as our blueprint, the government seeks to fast-track the formulation of the Philippine Construction Industry Roadmap in line with the biggest, boldest and the most ambitious infrastructure megaproject the country has ever witnessed,” said Ruth B. Castelo, DTI undersecretary for Competitiveness and Ease of Doing Business Group and
CIAP acting supervisor. “As we present a conceptual framework in the event, we will discuss and consolidate the ideas of fellow nation-builders across the construction industry,” Castelo said. “With their inputs, we hope to identify lucrative investment areas and public-private partnerships, address the possible roadblocks, fiscal delivery, and nurture best practices that will bolster the country’s infrastructure mega-plan for the next five years.” Coorganized with the Philippine Constructors Association and DTI’s Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions the event will engage leaders and decisionmakers of various infrastructurerelated private-sector organiza-
tions, government offices, together with financial and academic institutions, foreign embassies and business support organizations. To rally support for the development of a proposed road map, the Philippine Construction Congress will also conduct a signing of a memorandum of commitment between the government, industry leaders and concerned stakeholders. The Philippine construction industry is expected to grow in the next four years, reaching $47 billion in 2020 through funds driven largely by the residential and the infrastructure markets, according to Timetric’s Construction Intelligence Center. The infrastructure market is said to be the fastest-growing sector in the construction industry, with the report seeing the said market to reach $14.7 billion in 2020 at a compound annual growth rate of 14.14 percent, driven by government plans to develop high-speed rail links, highways and seaports through PPPs. “Aside from creating a road map, the Philippine Construction Congress will streamline public and private efforts to come up with lucrative public-private partnerships and augment the grand vision of the Build, Build, Build program to increase the productive capacity of the economy, create jobs, increase incomes and strengthen the investment climate leading to sustained inclusive growth,” Castelo added.
CASTELO
Infrastructure is among the top priorities of the current administration, with public spending on infrastructure projects targeted to reach P8 trillion to P9 trillion in 2017-2022. In his 10-point Socioeconomic Agenda, President Duterte envisioned the reduction of poverty from 21.6 percent in 2015 to between 13 percent and 15 percent by 2022. Among the reforms that will drive this agenda is the acceleration of infrastructure and the development of industries that will yield robust growth across the archipelago, create jobs and uplift the lives of Filipinos. In the first Philippine Construction Congress, the CIAP led nearly 300 stakeholders from the construction industry in setting the agenda and creating a groundwork to create
more jobs and hire more workers to support the construction boom and Duterte's National Employment and Livelihood Program. In 2016 the share of the construction industry to total employment of the country stood at 8.2 percent. The industry expanded its work force by 675,000 last year—equivalent to the combined employment generated from 2011 to 2015—to end at 3.3 million in 2016. The industry is expected to employ 5.8 million workers by 2022. Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed major drivers of the country’s economic growth in 2016 were the accelerated performances of the industry and service sectors. PSA data indicated the growth in the industry sector was due to the robust performance of the construction industry. Construction investments, as measured by the gross value in construction, expanded 13.6 percent to P781.9 billion last year, the CIAP said. Government infrastructure projects went up 29 percent to P185 billion, while private construction activities rose 9.5 percent to P596.9 billion. “With the success of the first Philippine Construction Congress on job generation, we hope to further augment the nation-building efforts of the Philippine construction industry by complementing the key initiatives under the Build, Build, Build program,” Castelo said.
Trade chief to Apec ministers: Reinvent globalization now
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A NANG, Vietnam—Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez called on the 21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) member-economies to focus on discussions and initiatives centered on promoting sustainable, innovative and inclusive growth during the 29th Apec Ministerial Meeting on November 8. “It is our duty as ministers to reinvent the globalization model wherein progress and growth are extended to the bottom of the pyramid. This is the only way we will be able to realize the Bogor Goals and usher Apec’s role beyond 2020,” Lopez said. The country’s trade chief also highlighted the role of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) and its development and internationalization in pushing inclusive economic growth and development. As the Philippines’s trade minister, Lopez also expressed the country’s support for Apec’s programs in promoting green and sustainable MSMEs through the Green Economic Development. The set of policies pushing for the creation of climate-smart and environment-friendly industries are now integrated in the manufacturing industry sector, particularly for the automotive, auto parts, pulp and paper, plastic, housing and furniture industries. On e-commerce discussion, the Philippines submitted its intent to participate in the Apec Cross-Border Privacy Enforcement Arrangement and work with economies in ensuring compliance with international standards to address MSME issues on security, as well as privacy in the Internet and digital economy. “ The Philippines continues its support for the MSME sector as we colead the development of the Apec MSME Work Program with Malaysia. We have also shared our inputs on tariffs, investments, nontariff measures, transparency and capacitybuilding discussions,” Lopez added. Meanwhile, in another intervention with Apec membereconomies, Lopez urged the Apec ministers to promote capacity-building efforts and technical collaborations that will increase the value-add of industries and MSMEs, as well as maximizing their potential in the global economy, while achieving inclusive growth. “Apec’s role in promoting sustainable, innovative and inclusive growth can be more meaningful if we are able to influence our respective regional economic-integration groupings with the principles of real inclusivity,” the trade chief said. Lopez called on member-economies to address the issues on growing nontariff barriers, which hamper market access and affect developing economies.
PHL WELCOMES JAPANESE CONFECTIONERY MAKERS
The Philippines, through the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) Foreign Trade Service Corps., welcomed 19 confectionary manufacturers from Kansai Kashi Kogyo Cooperative Association, led by Fujisawa Hajime, president of Nobel Confectionery Co. Ltd. (front row, fifth from left), through a briefing held on November 16 at Dusit Thani Manila in Makati City. In her welcome remarks, DTI Industry Development and Trade Policy Group Assistant Secretary Rafaelita M. Aldaba (front row, fourth from left) introduced the DTI’s Inclusive Innovation Industrial Strategy (i3S), which aims to develop globally competitive and innovative industries to sustain the country’s high-growth trajectory with innovation at its core. Agribusiness and processed food are among the 12 priority industries identified under the i3S. Nobuyuki Nakajima (front row, third from left), deputy executive director of Japan External Trade Organization Manila; and Kawamura Tomotaka, project manager of Sojitz Philippines Corp. (front row, sixth from left), also shared their valuable experience in doing business in the Philippines from a Japanese perspective. The event was concluded by a business networking session attended by members of the Philippine Confectionery, Biscuit and Snack Association, led by its president, Kissinger Sy (front row, left). The Philippine confectionary industry grew by 2.6 percent in 2016, with revenues amounting to $670.1 million.
Asean signs FTA, investment deal with HKC
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HE 10 member-state of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Hong Kong and China (HKC) strengthened their trade and economic relations with the signing of the Asean-Hong Kong, China Free-Trade Agreement (AHKFTA) and Asean—Hong Kong Investment Agreement (AHKIA) at the sidelines of the 31st Asean Summit and Related Summits on November 12 in Manila. The two agreements are part of the region’s continuous efforts to expand external economic relations to foster greater trade opportunities for the Asean Economic Community (AEC). “This will open more opportunities for Asean as we ensure greater market access for our products and sustained flow of foreign direct investments,” said Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez, this year’s Chairman of the Asean Economic Ministers. Lopez said these agreements would provide job opportunities for people and enhance collaboration among businesses, particularly the micro-, small- and mediumenterprises (MSMEs) sector. The AHKFTA is the Asean’s sixth free-trade agreement (FTA) with external partners, after the Asean-China FTA, Asean-Korea FTA, AseanJapan Comprehensive Economic Partnership, Asean-India FTA and AseanAustralia-New Zealand FTA. It covers trade in goods, rules of origin, nontariff measures, customs procedures and trade facilitation, trade remedies, technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, trade in services, intellectual property rights and economic and technical cooperation. In the case of the Philippines, an advocate of establishing an inclusive and innovative region, the deals provide more opportunities for MSMEs, as well as to the countr y’s export industries given HKC ’s role as gateway to the China market and their annual tourist arrivals. For the first eight months of 2017, HKC was Philippines’s third-top export destination with $5.55 billion worth of exports equivalent to 13.18 percent of the country’s total exports. Meanwhile, approved investments from HKC for the first semester of 2017 amounted to $10.74 million, making it the 12th source of investments of the country.
DTI spotlights Central Visayas MSMEs at Otop Premium Product Showcase
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HE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) demonstrated the massive potential of the grassroots level in Region 7’s food and nonfood industries with the mounting of the One Town One Product (Otop) Premium Product Showcase at the Paseo Solana, Ayala Center Cebu from November 17 to 19. DTI Central Visayas Regional Director Asteria Caberte said the event will feature products of local micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) from Central Visayas that have undergone product-development workshops conducted by the department under the Otop Program. Caberte added the MSMEs’ participation in the Otop Premium Products
Showcase also supplied products for the Go Lokal stores, Tindahang Pinoy, trade fairs and other market-access platforms used by the DTI. The DTI official said the current Otop program is a leveling-up process that focuses on new variations, better products that have significant improvement in the areas of quality, design, standards, compliance, marketability and production quality. Around 100 MSMEs in Central Visayas took part in the recent Otop Next Gen Screening, Assessment and Triage sessions in Cebu City, where experts from the Design Center of the Philippines and from the private sector evaluated potential Otop products.
Otop Philippines is a priority stimulus program for MSMEs as government’s customized intervention to drive inclusive local economic growth. The program enables localities and communities to determine, develop, support and promote products or services rooted in its local culture and competitive advantage. As their own “pride-of-place,” these are offerings where they can be the best at or best renowned for. Otop Next Gen is the DTI’s program to enhance MSME products and services. Building from the gains of Otop first generation, this initiative aims to offer a package of public-private assistance in order for MSMEs with minimum viable products to come up with new or better
offerings with significant improvement and innovation in the areas of quality, product development, design, standards compliance, marketability, production capability and brand development, among others. Otop Next Gen also embarks on the technological upgrade of production processes and design to help ensure sustainability of supply, by combining various elements, reengineering design or process; or building more advanced skills and capabilities. This is where close collaboration with the Department of Science and Technology and the Department of Agriculture will play a pivotal role to catapult our MSMEs on the road to innovation-led growth. Marcel L. Woo