EUROPEAN Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) President Nabil Francis said the country’s economy has become “extremely resilient” in 2019 amid external factors and challenges in the domestic environment.
Francis made the statement at a press conference on January 22, following the Philippine Statistics Authority’s report on last year’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth, which settled at 5.9 percent—below the government’s target, and the lowest level in eight years.
“Looking at the external environment, I think [it] was quite challenging in 2019 because of the factors that [did not emanate locally, but had an impact to] our economy,” he said.
The ECCP president cited the United States-China trade friction, the Brexit, and the softening of the Chinese economy as major factors that affected the global economy last year.
With that backdrop, local factors influenced the economic performance of the country last year, particularly the delay in passing the 2019 national budget that slowed down the rollout of public spending on infrastructure projects, he said.
But the Philippine economy was able to withstand external, as well as internal challenges and grew at 5.9 percent nonetheless, which was still one of the fastest in the region, Francis said.
Francis remained optimistic with the economic growth in 2020, with the timely enactment of the national budget, a “BBB+” credit rating for the Philippines, and a strong growth in consumption driven by remittances.
He said the Philippine government should keep a close watch on its trade balance and attract more foreign direct investments.
“We should promote the Philippines and make sure that [it] is a magnet for foreign investors,” he added.
Brisk bilateral trade
MEANWHILE, some €2 billion, or about P113 billion, worth of Philippine products entered the European Union market tariff-free under the Generalized Scheme of Preference Plus (GSP+) in 2020.
Delegation of the EU to the Philippines Chargé d’affaires Thomas Wiersing said it is estimated that 25 percent of total Philippine exports to the EU in 2019 utilized the GSP+.
Most of the products that entered the EU market at zero tariffs were agricultural exports, he stated.
The EU GSP+ allows 6,274 goods from the country to enter the EU market minus tariffs.
“It is, therefore, hoped that the GSP+ utilization rate of the Philippines further increases in 2020. [And] with the implementation of the REX, [or Registered Exporters] system of self-certification by the EU beginning January 2020, Filipino exporters will have faster processing time for their documentary requirements specific to GSP+-beneficiary products,” Wiersing said.
Wiersing shared that the EU Commission’s biennial GSP+ report will be published soon. It includes the progress of the Philippines in implementing the 27 international conventions relating to human rights, labor rights, environment and good governance from 2018 to 2019.
The chargé d’affaires further said two-way trade between the Philippines and the EU in the first 11 months of 2019 increased by 5 percent to €15.1 billion, from €14.4 billion in the same period in 2018.
Philippine exports to the EU from January to November 2019 went up by 2 percent to €7.5 billion, while imports from the bloc grew faster at 8 percent, or the same amount.
“The figure shows that for the first time in many years, the EU has a marginal trade surplus with the Philippines of around €89 million, coming from a trade deficit of around €321 million,” Wiersing shared.
He added that increasing imports from the EU is expected this year, following the delivery of 32 Airbus A321 Neo orders from Cebu Pacific.
“Overall, EU-Filipino trade is relatively smooth,” Wiersing declared.
Kris Crismundo/PNA
Image credits: PNA/Kris Crismundo