At a forum on the World Trade Organization held last Feb. 19 at the Philippine Trade Training Center, Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis, Jr., president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said: "I am convinced that the only way out of the poverty trap is for the country to expand its industrial and manufacturing base. We must, therefore, strengthen the defense mechanism to save our industries from getting drowned by imports."
Ortiz-Luis, concurrent president of the Philippine Exporters’ Confederation, also lamented the absence of adequate safety nets to protect local industries against the influx of imported commodities, and urged government to act swiftly to address the situation.
"It is high time that we correct what is now called ‘wanton import liberalization’, when the government threw wide open the local market to imports without first setting up the machinery to fight dumping, to operationalize safeguards and countervailing laws, and to provide the policies, programs and funds for competitiveness enhancement," he said.
Given the threats posed by unfettered import liberalization, Ortiz Luis said the only defense left to local industries is increased competitiveness and stronger trade safeguards.
He said: "Experience has taught us that there are predatory global traders out there who need to be checked, even as we prepare our own enterprises to compete... On the whole, national interest dictates that economic activities across sectors must be encouraged to expand — to reduce the growing army of the unemployed and to reduce, if not totally eradicate, mass poverty."
Ortiz Luis expressed concern that several years after joining the WTO, the Philippines has yet to enjoy the full benefits of global competition and seems, in fact, to have become worse off than other WTO members.
"If we situate our country in relation to over 100 WTO member-countries in terms of global trade, our exports only represent 0.6 percent of yearly trade. In other words, we are like a speck of sand in the trading desert. We also belong to the lower-middle class of developing countries, and getting closer to the ranks of the Least Developed Countries among WTO members," he said.