About 71.2 percent of the country's trade comes from the 59 RKC contracting parties in 2008, with total exports accounting for 83.5 percent and total imports, 60.5 percent. These figures underscore the significant impact of the country's RKC accession, describes BOC Chief Morales in a separate forum.

In the ASEAN region, Vietnam beat the Philippines to be the first to abide by the RKC rules while accession documents of most of the rest of the ASEAN 10 are in different stages of processing. -- Abe P. Belena, PHILEXPORT News and Features <--back

2. Rapid recovery of exports seen

Philippine exports are seen to recover faster than expected this year as the electronics industry lived up to its projections it will stage a rapid recovery.

Semiconductor and Electronics Industry of the Philippines Inc. (SEIPI) chairman Arthur Young said in an interview with PHILEXPORT News and Features that the industry has scaled up its export projection for the whole year to a range between 25 and 30 percent.

The new projection was given after the industry staged a 29.5 percent growth last April over the same month last year.

The new target calculated to move electronics exports to close, if not equal, the total sales in 2008 but may still be short of the 2007 record.

The year 2007 was the industry's peak year before the global recession sent it to a downward spin.

Other industries that were lagging behind in the recovery in the first quarter of the year like furniture and garments, joined the recovery bandwagon in the month of April.

But the unexpected best performer turned to be coconut oil which staged a 372 percent growth on top of $107.26 million in sales, replacing garments as the country's second largest export for the month of April.

Electronics and semiconductor products make up over 60 percent of Philippine exports.

Overall, the semi-government Export Development Council (EDC) also scaled up its projection of growth from the 20 percent it made at the beginning of the year to 22 percent after the January to April performance was reported.

EDC executive director Senen Perlada said that on the back of the industry's high double-digit growth in the first four months of the year, EDC has adjusted up total export growth this year from 20 percent to 22 percent.

Merchandise exports have been projected to grow by 20 percent instead of the earlier target of 16 percent. Services exports, on the other hand, is seen to kick up faster at 30 percent.

It has been projected that if the momentum of recovery is sustained, the industry may take just two years to win back lost grounds during the global crisis. -- Abe P. Belena, PHILEXPORT News and Features <--back

3. Corruption not an insurmountable challenge, says Monsod

Although corruption has been a permanent fixture of Philippine politics for decades, it is nonetheless a surmountable challenge.

This is what former National Economic and Development Authority chief Solita Monsod stressed during the recently held 14th National Press Forum.

Several administrations have failed to stamp out corruption but this does not mean that it is an insurmountable challenge, said Monsod.

Hong Kong and Japan used to be riddled with corruption but look at them now, she added.

The palpable optimism stems from the fact that President Noynoy Aquino ran and won on a good governance platform.

Not burdened by political baggage, Monsod said that President Aquino is in a much better position to address the country's endemic problem of corruption.

President Aquino has a golden opportunity to select the best and the brightest as he has much less political debts and favors to pay, said Monsod.

Monsod likewise noted that the current Administration's commitment to make a dent on corruption will help the country keep pace with other East Asian economies.

While the 7.3% growth rate of the country in the first quarter of this year is quite impressive compared with its previous growth rates, it pales in comparison with that of its East Asian neighbors. Singapore and Thailand grew by 15% and 12%, respectively.

Citing a study done by the University of Harvard, Monsod reiterated that more than the amount of available resources, it is governance and the quality of institutions that make a country more progressive than the others.

Corruption results in higher transaction costs, directing resources away from their productive uses. It is making the country very unattractive to foreign investors, too bad for a capital-and technology-scarce country like the Philippines, Monsod opined.

When asked to identify the key institutions that need to be strengthened immediately, Monsod mentioned the Office of the Ombudsman, the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) and a host of other political institutions. -- Ritchelle Alburo, PHILEXPORT News and Features <--back

4. Austria another potential market for fashion jewelry

Filipino exporters may consider Austria as another market for fashion jewelry.

Benjamin Chiu, market analyst of iSEARCH Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. Cebu, in a report pointed out that its imports have been consistently growing during the last five years, making Austria the fifth biggest market for costume jewelry exports among the EU27 countries.

Imports from 2005 to 2009 are consistently growing at an average rate of 19.4 percent yearly. This is well above the EU27 average of one percent for the same period,he stressed.

Chiu said in 2009 alone, Austria is also the only country in the top 10 EU27 costume jewelry importers that have reported positive import growth rate of 3.9 percent.

It captured 10.7 percent of the total EU27 costume jewelry imports last year, following Italy and France representing 14.3 percent and 17.2 percent, respectively.

Germany and the United Kingdom have shares of around 19 percent each. The rest of the countries including Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Portugal and Ireland cover not more than six percent each of the total imports.

Chiu attributed the higher costume jewelry imports of Austria to the strong influence of fashion trends in clothing and matching accessories.

Necklaces, bangles and earrings with glittering or colorful beads have been popular until the present time partly because Austrians are becoming more conscious about their appearance, especially for the increasing numbers of working women,he said.

Citing Trademap figures, Chiu said the leading supplier of costume jewelry to Austria in 2009 was Thailand, covering around 35 percent of total imports, followed by China with about 25 percent share.

The Philippines only ranked 25th, slightly above its competitors such as Indonesia (30th) and Vietnam (32nd) which are also suppliers of costume jewelry to Austria.

Austria's costume jewelry imports from the Philippines in 2009 were valued at $329,000, more than double compared with the imports from Indonesia and Vietnam amounting to $135,000 and $122,000 for the same year.

However, Austria's import growth rate from the Philippines for the period 2005 to 2009 was characterized by a downward trend, averaging at minus 14.8 percent yearly,he said.

As its jewelry market for working women still develops, Chiu urged exporters to seize the opportunities in offering other forms of costume jewelry with charms or stones, pendants with amulets and hair accessories.

Other interesting market niches could be found in the rising number of immigrants and tourists where all sorts of costume jewelries could attract this target group,he added.

Chiu said direct selling to consumers is another good opportunity for exporters who intend to market their products online, since the internet is well established in Austria. -- Danielle Venz, PHILEXPORT News and Features <--back

5. FOI advocates hope for passage under Aquino administration

Representatives of over 100 organizations from various industries are optimistic that President-elect Benigno NoynoyAquino III will convey to the Congress his unequivocal support for the immediate passage of the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill.

In a press forum, Nepomuceno Malaluan, spokesperson of the Right to Know. Right Now! Coalition, said such support for the bill may be expressed in his first State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) as well as through an appropriate message to Congress certifying the necessity of its immediate enactment.

The commitment of the incoming Aquino administration needs to be translated into concrete action,he stressed.

But while awaiting the bill's passage, Malaluan said they also hoped that President Aquino will already implement active disclosure measures in key public acts, such as appointments, as well as transactions like contracting, borrowing and spending.

The coalition also called on the House of Representatives of the incoming Congress to institute changes to its Rules and stop the practice of dispensing with the roll call at the start of session to railroad measures without quorum.

Malaluan said such practice was among the key reasons for the non-passage of the crucial FOI bill during the last Congress.

To address this, he said Congress must exercise its right to compel the attendance of absent members where quorum is not present in times when urgent business is in agenda.

In terms of determination of quorum, the Rules must also be amended to provide an effective check on the Secretary Generals power to report out the result of the roll call, he added.

The Rules on the consideration of conference reports must be strengthened to give effect to its high privilege in the order of business, and avoid the arbitrary and unjust blocking of an important measure by the House leadership as what happened in the FOI bill conference report,noted Malaluan.

The long-awaited FOI bill that has evolved through several Congresses promotes disclosure to the public of all government transactions without need of demand.

The bicameral conference committee version has been approved early this year that specifically provides a standard and definite procedure for dealing with requests for information.

It likewise provides criminal and administrative sanctions for violation of the right to information. -- Danielle Venz, PHILEXPORT News and Features <--back

6. More investments in petrochemical industry seen

More investments are expected to be poured into the petrochemical industry amid rosier economic outlook.

As the economy grows, plastic consumption grows with it. More items are being sold to consumers so you need plastic packaging and containers. If you are growing five percent, you should expect the sector to grow by 10 percent,said Mario Sereno, executive director of the Association of Petrochemical Manufacturers of the Philippines.

Sereno said major investments in midstream and upstream activities already reached $935 million.

This include the $300 million of Petron Corporation which is branching out into petrochemicals from petroleum refinery and the $350-million upstream project being undertaken by the J.G. Summit Petrochemicals.

Petrochemicals refer to petroleum or natural gas by-products used for the production of various products like plastics, solvents, synthetic fibers and other essential commodities.

As a basic industry, it provides needed raw materials for virtually all other industries, he said.

Sereno said significant investments also involve the rehabilitation of two new large midstream plants in Bataan that shut down in early 2000 because of unfavorable business condition.

One (NPC Alliance Corp. formerly Bataan Polyethylene Corp.) has been re-commissioned in 2008 with one line operating. The other firm is expected to be operational by year-end 2010,he bared.

Moreover, Sereno said some plastic processing firms are implementing modernization.

While we have large plastic processors, we also have very many small-scale (processors) which can already modernize,he noted.

Sereno further said the local midstream petrochemical industry has the potential to deploy further investments of P50 billion to P75 billion in additional backward and forward integration projects. -- Danielle Venz, PHILEXPORT News and Features <--back