Phl prepares comprehensive industrialization strategy

CEBU, Philippines - The Board of Investments (BOI) announced the Philippines’ preparation for a comprehensive industrialization strategy by 2013.

BOI head and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) undersecretary for international trade Adrian Cristobal Jr., said that there are at least 50 industry groups that are now in the midst of drawing up their specific industry roadmaps.

He said these roadmaps will be consolidated by the industry leaders and the DTI towards the end of this year and by early 2013, so that a comprehensive industrialization strategy for the Philippines would have been ready for submission to and approval by President Benigno Aquino III.

According to Cristobal, the plan is expected to form part of the medium term Philippine development plan of the current administration, the first to be hammered out since end of the Marcos martial law regime.

With this, he said the Philippines is seen to be sellers of goods and services, not just viewed as consumers.

The Philippines is a net importer of goods including food products and has a ballooing trade deficit.

In his recent visit to Cebu, Cristobal told the Cebuano business community that the Philippines on its way to re-capture its niche in the manufacturing sector, while the country has identified East Asia as its priority in capturing the migration of multinational manufacturing companies to the Philippines.

He  said the target now are the suppliers of these countries, in China and Japan so that the Philippines can cluster them.

However, he said with this move, this does not mean that the Philippines will abandon its traditional markets and partners, “they continue to be important, but different approaches are necessary.

 “Although the confluence of events and many factors has shifted the eyes of investors to our country, promotion activities alone will not do it. Long term outlooks, strategies and plans are needed. We have to continue plugging supply chain gaps, increase productivity and competitiveness, and seek new markets,” added Cristobal.

But more coherence, vision and a long term strategy is needed he said if the country is to sustain economic growth, particularly inclusive growth. For this purpose, the DTI developed and is implementing a unified industry and international trade strategy. This strategy rests on three pillars:

One is institutionalizing stakeholder engagement in industry and trade policy making. This is a system of consultations with the private sector, labor, academe and civil society. Learning from the past, when adequate consultative mechanisms were not in place before engaging in trade negotiations, this time stakeholders will be participating from the very start. Not only do we ensure that our positions are responsive to the sectors affected, but also to enable them to be ready to utilize benefits or adjust to competition when these agreements take effect. We call this pillar "One Country, One Voice".

Second is the trade and industry policy research network and capacity building, where the Philippines aims to fill the gap in the bureaucracy's capacity for policy research and policymaking with expertise outside of it. It created a network of 12 public and private think tanks to provide empirical research to support policymaking and negotiations. This pillar is called "One Country, One Network"

And third is enhanced inter-agency coordination and capacity building for trade negotiators. ”We are strengthening the negotiation structure, improving processes and mechanisms for coordination, enforcement and monitoring of the implementation of our trade agreements. Our aim is to act as "One Country, One Team,” he said.

At the base of these three pillars, underpinning this entire framework, is the industry competitiveness.

Cristobal emphasized that this is one of the main shifts in strategy that was lacking in the past, a foundation upon which our international trade policy and negotiations positions are aligned.

“We need to identify the strengths and weaknesses, of our industries, the opportunities and threats,” he said.  (FREEMAN)