THE Export Development Council (EDC) is expected to meet in the first quarter to likely downgrade the targets set in the Philippine Export Development Plan (PEDP) for the 2025-2028 period.
In an online briefing last week, EDC Executive Director Bianca Pearl R. Sykimte said that proposed revisions have yet to be presented to the EDC.
She told reporters that the adjusted goals will “definitely (be) lower than what was originally reflected in the PEDP.”
As of October, the Philippines exported $61.8 billion worth of merchandise, slightly higher than the $61.6 billion it exported a year earlier.
“That is only a 0.4% growth, basically because of the lackluster performance of our semiconductors. As you know, 40% of what we export are semiconductors,” she said.
She said that the semiconductor industry saw a $2.8 billion drop in exports in the first 10 months, which overshadowed the export gains in electronic data processing, consumer electronics, telecommunications, other manufactured goods, coconut oil, machinery and transport equipment, chemical and petrochemicals, copper concentrates, tuna, and processed food and beverages.
Meanwhile, she said that the Philippines booked $37.4 billion worth of services exports in the first nine months, up 6.25% from a year earlier.
“Basically, there are two drivers of growth: travel services and information technology and business process management (IT-BPM),” she said.
“I think we had roughly $500 million of additional gains for travel services. And I think the IT-BPM sector grew by nearly $2 billion,” she added. — Justine Irish D. Tabile
