Coops expand market penetration via exports

CEBU, Philippines - Coop players in the Philippines are now expanding their market penetration not only in the domestic market but to the whole world as well.

National Cooperative Development Council (NCDC) chairman Arthur A. Aller said that one way of expanding the coops’ economic backbone is to conquer the export market, which is already started by some cooperative players.

He said coop players in the Philippines will initially partner with similar groups in the Asian regions, to exchange products and services, thereby promoting export trade for the Philippine based coops.

Some Filipino coops such as the banana and pineapple growers in Mindanao, tuna traders in General Santos, and processed meat players in North Luzon are already   exporting their products.

In Cebu, there are also few cooperatives that are starting to penetrate the global market, such as the Cordova Multi-Purpose Cooperative, of which women members are engaged in weaving, and making of baskets and fashion accessories for export to Japan.

Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) chairperson Lecira V. Juarez, expressed   confidence that more cooperatives in the Philippines will be able to make it in the global market, more so that most of them are already employing international standard operations, through ISO certifications.

CDA is a government agency that is mandated to promote the viability and growth of cooperatives as instruments for equity, social justice and economic development. 

However, she said the potential to break in the global market will depend on the products and services being focused on by the coop. 

Earlier, CDA revealed that of the over 70,000 coops registered, only over 30 percent survived and are operating.

Although this development is not encouraging, Juarez said the thrust of the industry and the CDA is to grow the number of cooperative members.

Aller said NCDC’s thrust now is to beat the challenge of global competitiveness, while expanding cooperative’s market penetration not only in the Philippines, but other countries in the world.

“We will pursue our initial steps to explore possibilities in other markets, and developing partnerships with other countries,” Aller said.

Market access is one of the problems that NCDC will need help from the different sectors, especially from the government.

The Philippines is being looked up by other Asian countries in terms of adopting best practices in cooperative movement. Countries like Bangladesh, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam, are getting technical expertise from successful coops here.

According to Aller, while there is already good cooperative practices, especially among big players, this advantage should be maximized and that other players in the cooperative movement here will also be able to employ best practices

As of 2007, the coop business in the Philippines posted a total of P78.5 billion worth of trade volume, which generated 1.6 million jobs all over the country.