Hitting $143-B exports goal in ’24 ‘dim’ By Andrea E. San Juan @andreasanjuan
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NEW ROTARIAN OFFICERS Rotary Club of Manila's new set of officers (2024-2025), led by President Eduardo “Jujut” V. Enriquez, take their oath on Thursday, July 11, 2024, at SMX Convention Center, SM Aura Premier in Taguig City. See centerspread on RCM oath-taking on pages A10-11. NONOY LACZA
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HE Philippines must post double-digit growth in exports to achieve the $143.4-billion target set under the Philippine Exports Development Plan (PEDP) in 2024, according to Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (PhilExport) President Sergio Luis-Ortiz. At the sidelines of the ATA Carnet system launching on Monday, he told reporters, “To be able to reach [$143 billion], we have to increase more than double digits.... We’re not doing that much,” he said. Luis-Ortiz added that he does not see the Philippines hitting the 2024 export target in the original time frame. “It will take quite a while,” he said. However, Luis-Ortiz estimated the possibil-
ity of reaching the 2024 target happening three years from now or by 2027. He said the Philippines must resolve its problems with electricity, shipping costs and geopolitical risks, which he identified as areas with great impact on exports. Under the country’s Export Development Plan, it targets to reach $143.4 billion for 2024; 2025, $163.6 billion; 2026, $186.7 billion; 2027, $212.1 billion and 2028, $240.5 billion. The PhilExport chief projected exports this year to increase “slowly but surely” but not “on the level that we would like to be” given the upward trajectory of outbound shipments from January to May this year. The country’s exports in the first five months of 2024 grew by 7.8 percent to $30.84 billion from the $28.61-billion export receipts in the
same period in 2023. “Our investment, although we’re trying very hard, even job creation, kulelat tayo [we’re behind] at the moment,” Luis-Ortiz said. The issues in agriculture as well as geopolitical risks, notably the territorial tensions in the West Philippine Sea, hound the country’s exportations, according to Luis-Ortiz. Trade between the Philippines and China reached nearly $40 billion in 2023, with imports from China amounting to $29.38 billion and outbound shipments or exports reaching $10.86 billion last year, based on data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). “Somehow, natatakot din ’yung mga investors sa atin [investors are afraid of us]. And then us, tinatakot din natin ’yung mga tourists [we also scare the tourists],” he added.
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AMID WEAK PESO, OFW REMITTANCES AT $2.88B T By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto
HE flow of cash remittances in the Philippines from overseas Filipinos grew to US$2.88 billion in May this year amid a weak peso performance, latest data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.
Despite the increase in remittances, Institute for Migration and Development Issues Executive Director Jeremaiah M. Opiniano underscored that Filipinos abroad did not take advantage of the low currency exchange in April and May to send more money back home. Opiniano said cash remittances were $174 million less between March and April while month-on-month volumes rose by US$11 million. “The months of April and May 2024 See “OFW,” A
NATIONWIDE PRICE MONITORING A vendor at Las Piñas Public Market arranges the rice display at his stall, with each type of rice tagged at a different price per kilo. The government has launched a nationwide price monitoring program to assess the effects of the reduced tariff on rice. This program will cover retail markets, grocery stores, and wet markets. NONIE REYES
ST. LUKE’S TO RAISE PROFILE IN MEDICAL TOURISM MARKET By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo @akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror
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T. LUKE’S Medical Center (SLMC) has been accredited by the Department he Philippines, of Tourism (DOT) as a premier medical tourism facility in the romote its as the hospital intensifies its marketing campaign to promote world-class facilities and services, which foreigners can avail themselves emselves iders. of through their respective health and medical insurance providers. ident Dr. In an interview with the BusinessMirror, SLMC president Dennis Serrano said, “We pride ourselves [in] being amongg the top, if not the top hospital in the country, mainly because [we have] the expertise, both in doctors and in healthcare personnel, and our facilities and equipment. We have pushed ourselves to the he me cutting edge of medicine and surgery…inevitably, we’ve become ranked as among the top hospitals in the region.” SLMC offers a wide range of treatments from elective ive s, surgeries to complex procedures, and wellness retreats, al making it a “comprehensive healthcare hub” for medical tourists, he added. The English fluency of hospital personnel el th is also a plus, providing seamless communication with
ST. LUKE’S Medical Center Inc. President Dr. Dennis Serrano in file photo. St. Luke’s will be opening a new hospital in Aseana City by 2029, the third after its Quezon City (left) and Bonifacio Global City branches.
international medical tourists, he said. According to DataHorrizzon Research, the global medical tourism market was valued at US$9.5 billion in 2022, and is projected to grow at a compounded annual rate of some See “St. Lukes,” A
PESO EXCHANGE RATES Q US 58.3350 Q JAPAN 0.3689 Q UK 75.7188 Q HK 7.4715 Q CHINA 8.0462 Q SINGAPORE 43.4752 Q AUSTRALIA 39.5045 Q EU 63.5326 Q SAUDI ARABIA 15.5535 Source: BSP (July 15, 2024)