Philippines in search of new export markets

The Philippines wants to take advantage of the changing landscape in global trade by exploring for new export markets, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Cayetano Paderanga said Monday. "We are trying to adjust precisely to changes in the external environment," Paderanga said in an interview after the signing of the 2011 national budget in Malacañang. "Among others, we will need to look for new markets and probably new products because of the changes in the global trade and production patterns." Paderanga was referring to China, India, Middle East, and other Asian countries. "These are counties that we were interested in before but we did not have a strong push," he said. Major global economic developments this year, including a weaker US economy, the foreign exchange wars, and the European debt crisis, helped reshaped fiscal and monetary policies in the Philippines and that of many other countries. Enhancing infrastucture Enhancing the country's infrastructure will "enhance its competitive strength" and speed up its economic growth, according to the economic planning secretary. He said integrating the national market and implementing reforms to bring down the cost of doing business would help grow the private sector. Tourism, business process outsourcing, and agro-industrial processing infrastructure need to be integrated, Paderanga said. With the Philippine economy largely driven by consumer spending, Paderanga is setting his sights also on expanding the domestic market as a way of pegging future domestic demand. "If our plans are concrete enough or credible, the private sector will also do preemptive investments," he said. Changing holiday economics Part of the impending changes would impact on the holiday economics instituted by the administration of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Paderanga said the Aquino administration look into the feasibility of removing holiday economics. Holiday economics has to change because the business sector wants production schedules and working hours predictable and in sync with output cycles, according to NEDA. - JE/KBK/VS GMANews.TV