THE NEXT Trade Secretary should focus on driving investment to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), a business group said on Monday.
“Investors must invest in our country, especially in MSMEs,” Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce & Industry, Inc. (FFCCCII) President Cecilio K. Pedro said during a briefing in Quezon City on Monday.
“The keys here [are] the small and medium industries. They are scattered everywhere, especially in the provinces and far-flung areas… we need MSMEs,” he added.
MSMEs account for 99.59% of businesses in the Philippines, according to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
Mr. Pedro said the Philippines is competing with its Southeast Asian neighbors for investment, and cited the need to address high energy and labor costs that may drive away investors.
The government must help investors by making doing business easy and reducing power costs.
Mr. Pedro said the Philippines must play to its strengths, such as the English-speaking workforce.
Of the acting Trade Secretary, Ma. Cristina A. Roque, Mr. Pedro said: “I look forward to (dealing with her) because she’s a former Undersecretary, she knows well what we need as far as trade is concerned.”
President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. announced Ms. Roque’s appointment in an acting capacity last week after the resignation of her predecessor, Alfredo E. Pascual.
She was the Undersecretary overseeing MSMEs before taking on her new role.
At the same briefing, Senator Maria Imelda Josefa Remedios R. Marcos said Ms. Roque must move forward with more free trade agreements (FTAs).
“(We need more) free trade agreements; we are always uncompetitive that is why markets don’t want to open in the Philippines,” she said.
The Philippines’ sole bilateral FTA is with Japan, but it has FTAs with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Philippines-European Free Trade Association (EFTA) free trade agreement. EFTA’s members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.
It also has the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership with 14 Asia-Pacific countries.
The Philippines, under ASEAN, also has preferential trade agreements with China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand. — Chloe Mari A. Hufana
