MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The Philippines has been maintaining trade deficit with other ASEAN members despite high economic growth, an official said today.
The Philippine trade deficit with ASEAN allies climbed 43.5 percent from $3.9 billion in 2010 to $5.6 billion 2011, but eased to $4.3 billion in 2012, a drop of 23.2 percent, Trade Undersecretary Adrian Cristobal said Tuesday.
However, Philippine exports to other ASEAN members grew by 20.4 percent per year in the 1992-2008 period. At present, about 19 percent of Philippine exports go to ASEAN markets, he said.
The ASEAN provides better alternative source of imports for key inputs, raw materials, critical finished products or components in global value chains, he added.
The Trade Department noted that the Philippine trade with ASEAN is largely intra-industry in nature in the same manner that the country's trade relationship in ASEAN is largely complementary rather than competitive in nature.