DTI eyes 10% exports growth in 2024

MANILA, Philippines —  The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)  expects the country’s total exports to grow by 10 percent this year.

In an interview with reporters, DTI-Export Marketing Bureau director Bianca Sykimte said that based on market projections, if everything is business as usual, the country’s exports are expected to grow by 10 percent this year.

“So definitely, we’ll try to achieve more than 10 percent for export growth,”she said.

Nevertheless, Sykimte emphasized that in order to meet the export targets outlined in the Philippine Export Development Plan (PEDP 2023-2028) for this year, the country requires a 40 percent growth in exports.

“For us to be able to catch up with our PEDP targets, we need to grow by about 40 percent this year because we did not meet the target for 2023,” Sykimte said.

Based on the PEDP, the Philippines was targeting export revenues of $126.8 billion last year. Both the DTI and industry stakeholders earlier said that this target would likely be missed.

Latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that merchandise exports from January to November 2023  reached $67.03 billion, an 8.4 percent decline from the $73.18 billion registered  in the same period in 2022.

Service exports from January to September 2023, on the other hand,  grew by 20.7 percent to $34.7 billion, according to data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

Under the PEDP, the Philippines is targeting export revenues of $143.4 billion this year.

“It’s a bit difficult, but we really need to attract investment sto build our domestic capacities,” Sykimte said.

Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual explained that part of the DTI’s strategy of increasing exports is to bring foreign manufacturers, export-oriented foreign manufacturers, to locate in the Philippines.