PHL economy to stay 'resilient' amid Japan devastation — Aquino

The Philippine economy will stay "resilient" in the midst of destruction being suffered by Japan, the world's third largest economy, President Benigno Aquino III said Wednesday. Japan is the third largest importer of Philippine products after Singapore and the US, accounting for 14.1 percent of Philippine exports last year, according to the National Statistics Office. While there are domestic industries that would be affected by developments abroad, more economic opportunities would open to the Philippines, the President told reporters after an economic briefing with the Regional Development Council in Cagayan de Oro City. Aquino said he ordered Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo to meet with the semiconductor and electronics industry, the Philippine sector that will likely take a hit from the industrial disruptions Japan is now experience in the wake of the March 11 earthquake and ensuing tsunami that also damaged some of its nuclear power facilities. The President said he is thinking of organizing a trade delegation to pursue more investment potentials and opportunities for the Philippines. "Perhaps, it is high time for us to mount a trade delegation to transfer more of [Japan's] production to the Philippines," he added. "I always try to look at every problem as an opportunity," Aquino said, noting that the catastrophe in Japan would certainly affect many countries. Japan is not only a major trade partner of many countries, it is also a manufacturer of a lot of products, he said. "What happens to Japan's economy has a direct bearing on so many countries in the world." PHL not lowering growth forecast Global Source, a New York-based think tank, said external developments are not huge enough to reduce the growth forecasts for the Philippines. Budget Secretary Florencio Abad also said developments abroad are not extensive enough to warrant a revision in the country's macroeconomic assumptions. "The accumulation of the changes that we are tracking is not as yet as large enough for us to necessitate an adjustment or revisions in the growth target," Abad said on Tuesday. The government said that Philippine output, as measured by the gross domestic product will grow between 7 percent and 8 percent. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Gov. Amando Tetangco Jr. over the weekend said the benefits of an economic boost in the quake- and tsunami-crippled country will likely trickle down to the Philippines. Still, he acknowledged the situation in devasted Japan will have a "somewhat negative" short-term impact on the Philippine economy. “But over the medium- to long-term, it is going to be positive because of the rebuilding and reconstruction efforts that will boost the Japanese economy," he said. — JE/PE/VS, GMA News