The Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport) yesterday called on the need to sustain the improved showing of exports in July for the country to hit pre-pandemic numbers.
In his President’s Report at the Philexport general membership meeting in Paranaque City, Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr. said he shares the Asian Development Bank’s observations the Philippines is among the countries that benefited from strong growth in trade with Asia as the continued recovery in exports supported economies in the region during the first half of 2024.
“The July trade number show exports seeing a significant boost and imports holding steady, “said Ortiz-Luis.
Citing government data, he said the value of Philippine exports hit $6.06 billion in July, marking a 9.4 percent jump from June’s $5.54 billion.
Manufactured goods were the standout performer, climbing 13.5 percent to $4.78 billion compared to $4.21 billion in June. Agro-based products also enjoyed a healthy uptick, with sales reaching $475.60 million, up 9.3 percent from $435.06 million in June.
“However, not everything was on the rise,” Ortiz-Luis said.
Mineral products slipped just slightly by 0.8 percent to $588.21 million from $593.17 million.
These seasonal movements in export values were influenced by demand swings for these goods, Ortiz-Luis said.
He added while forest products and petroleum showed no seasonal shifts, the overall export landscape looked bright in July.
“That was good 2024 half-year record indeed. The bigger job though is in sustaining this performance towards higher growth rates than the pre-pandemic levels which we still have not bridged,” Ortiz-Luis said.
He said Philexport looks forward to the positive results of the ongoing cascading activities under the Philippine Export Development Plan (PEDP) 2023 to 2028 as inputs on how to achieve the plan’s targets.
PEDP targets $143.4 billion in exports of goods and services this year but government has indicated this might be difficult to hit.
Ortiz-Luis cited findings of a government survey that identified key challenges of exporters in effectively competing: regulatory compliance, certification, and production, particularly costing and pricing. Globally, exporters grapple with the geopolitical tensions as well as rising inflation that curtail demand.
