Cebuano exporters ‘need to be more competitive’ in Asean

Bascones

The newly-elected president of the Philippine Exporters Confederation-Cebu chapter (PhilExport Cebu) said he will focus more on projects that will enhance the capability of their members in the next two years.

With the Asean integration reaching a milestone this year and the country’s inclusion in the expanded European Union-Generalized Scheme of Preference (EU-GSP+), PhilExport-Cebu president Nelson Bascones said Cebuano exporters need to be more competitive.

“We’d like to look into more opportunities to further strengthen our capability. If we don’t improve ourselves we will be overtaken and our markets will be taken away by competition,” he said.

By competing, Bascones said companies should be able to produce what the market demands at a cost-efficient level.

Integration
“Now we are faced with a lot of issues in cost. Cost of production, logistics and raw materials,” he said.

Bascones said they will conduct more workshops and seminars that will help address these issues.

“I’m sure there are processes that can be done to somehow solve these issues,” he said.

Bascones is currently exporting processed seafood products like pasteurized crabmeat, frozen scallops, squid and more.

He said his sector, the food sector, is among those at risk with the Asean integration because other member countries like Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand are also producing the same goods.

Government aid
“So I see that the defining factor would be how efficient we produce our products so that we can offer quality at a competitive price as well as quantity as required by the market,” he said.

Bascones said the furniture sector  started to see some recovery but the Cebuan’’s creativity can still reach more markets.

Senen M. Perlada, export marketing bureau director of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said there are now a lot of well-known Filipino brands in the world, like Kenneth Cobonpue.

But the volume of furniture exported from the Philippines remains low compared to our neighbors in the region.

Perlada said furniture exporters can start looking at the European market aside from the traditional US market which has yet to see complete economic recovery.

Bascones said while the country’s inclusion in the European market  is good news, until the country’s products start reaching these countries, such assessments “remain just numbers.”

“We need help from government on how we can satisfy all the requirements of the European market,” Bascones told reporters.