Philippines to downgrade export targets next month

MANILA, Philippines — The Export Development Council (EDC) is looking to release next month its downgraded export targets for this year until the end of the Marcos administration amid domestic and external challenges.

Department of Trade and Industry – Export Marketing Bureau director Bianca Pearl Sykimte said the council composed of the government and the private sector is hoping to release the revised targets under the Philippine Export Development Plan (PEDP) in April.

She said the EDC executive committee met two weeks ago to discuss adjustments, simulations and mitigating measures.

“We’re downgrading (the targets),” she said.

While the EDC is trimming the export goals under the PEDP, she said the revised targets are not going to be lower than those under the Philippine Development Plan (PDP).

Under the PEDP, the goal is for the country’s exports of goods and services to reach $163.6 billion this year, $186.7 billion in 2026, $212.1 billion in 2027 and $240.5 billion in 2028.

Meanwhile, the target under the PDP is for the country’s total exports to reach $113.42 billion this year, $120.22 billion in 2026, $127.44 billion in 2027 and $135.08 billion in 2028.

The PEDP targets are being revised amid geopolitical tensions and protectionist policies being imposed by the United States.

The export targets are being lowered even as the country’s total exports hit a record-high of $106.99 billion last year, up by 3.3 percent from $103.59 billion in 2023.

While last year’s exports are the highest ever achieved, the figure is below the PEDP target of $143.4 billion for 2024.

Under the PDP, the 2024 exports goal is $107 billion.

Sykimte said the growth in exports last year was driven by the services sector, which breached the $50 billion mark for the first time.

In particular, services exports amounted to $51.98 billion last year, 7.5 percent higher than the $48.33 billion in 2023. Meanwhile, exports of goods slipped by 0.4 percent to $55.01 billion from $55.26 billion.

Earlier, Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. president Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr. said the country’s exports of goods and services could reach $110 billion this year, falling short of the targets.

“In addition to the insufficient budget for export particularly exports promotion, we continue to face key domestic and external risks this year that include weather disturbances, extreme natural disasters and acute and protracted global economic slowdown in major economies, ongoing geopolitical tensions and conflicts, trade wars and protectionist trade policies especially in the US,” he said.

For this year, Sykimte said the country’s exports of services are expected to continue to grow.

“We’re confident about the prospects for the services sector,” she said.

She said it is necessary for the sector to remain up-to-date with new technologies.

As for goods, she said semiconductor and electronics, machinery and transport equipment, as well as minerals are expected to be the biggest industrial exports.