Electronic exports are expected to register further growth this year with the opening of more economies, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) reported on Tuesday.
Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez is upbeat the electronic exports industry will have its momentum in shipping out more products after opening the year with an uptick in revenues.
In a news statement, the DTI noted that electronics export slightly grew to 0.3 percent to $3.24 billion in January year-on-year. This was mainly driven by the exports of medical instrumentation, which climbed by 84.3 percent for the period.
The growth was also supported by consumer electronics, electronic data processing, and control and instrumentation, which increased by 28.2 percent, 24.4 percent, and 8.9 percent, respectively. Accounting for 73.2 percent of the electronic exports and 43.2 percent of total merchandise exports, semiconductor exports, meanwhile, dropped by 4.4 percent.
Overall merchandise exports for the period slipped by 5.2 percent to $5.49 billion from $5.79 billion in January last year.
“Philippine export trends were heavily influenced by the pandemic, from medical instrumentation for hospitals to consumer electronics for workers who had to work from home,” Lopez said. “As more markets open up, we are also looking forward to exporting more products.”
Meanwhile, DTI also took note of the exports of non-electronic products. Sales from the basketwork segment doubled to $5.61 million in the first month of the year. Sales of chemicals grew by 44.3 percent; iron and steel rose by 30.9 percent; and textiles improved by 27.3 percent for the period.
Export of travel goods and handbags plunged by 45.6 percent, which DTI attributed to the lockdown protocols. Garments and footwear exports were also cut by 22.8 percent and 25.8 percent, respectively.
In January, US was the country’s top export market, accounting for 15.6 percent of the total. This was followed by Japan with 14.7 percent and China with 14.6 percent.
To boost the export industry, Lopez called on the traders to maximize the perks of Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which was signed in November last year. DTI noted that seven of the country’s top export destinations are part of the mega trade deal, including Japan, China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan and Korea.
The regional trade agreement—launched by 10 Asean member-states and six Asean free-trade agreement partners—aims to promote better economic ties of the participating nations. Asean stands for Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
In the past year, electronic exports dropped by 8.8 percent to $39.67 billion from $43.39 billion, according to data from Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation Inc.
The industry group noted that five out of nine sectors shrunk during the period. These include telecommunications, communication/radar, office equipment, electronic data processing and components/semiconductor.
This year, Seipi is eyeing to grow the electronic exports by 7 percent.