PRELIMINARY investigations to determine whether safeguard duties should be imposed on imported newsprint, and galvanized iron (GI) and pre-painted galvanized iron (PPGI) to protect local industries will be completed by January and February, respectively.
MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is set to intensify its education campaign for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic Community (AEC) next year as part of preparations for the upcoming regional economic integration. “We are intensifying our education campaign on the AEC through larger fora four times every month starting in the first quarter of 2014,” DTI assistant secretary Ceferino S. Rodolfo said on the sidelines of a conference on the AEC. He said the plan is to conduct the fora by region, by sectors, and by issues. “Alongside these fora, the DTI will continue organizing the Doing Business in Free Trade Areas (DBFTA) sessions,” he said. The DBFTA is a series of business information sessions that provide entrepreneurs with knowledge on how to navigate and profit from the country’s free trade agreements (FTAs). Currently, the Philippines has signed seven free trade agreements, namely, the ASEAN FTA, ASEAN-China FTA, ASEAN-Korea FTA, ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand FTA, ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, Philippines-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement and ASEAN-India FTA. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Since January of this year, more than 100 DBFTA sessions have been conducted nationwide, with many focused on the AEC. The AEC, which will be in place by 2015, will transform the ASEAN into a region with free movement of goods, services, investment, skilled labor as well as flow of capital. Large market opportunities are seen to be opened by the AEC’s market of 600 million people for Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will try to position the Philippines as a hub for design and craftsmanship in preparation for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) Economic Community (AEC) in 2015 as it launched DeXign Global, a business platform to introduce trends and innovations for home and fashion yesterday. DTI’s Bureau of Export Trade Promotion director Senen Perlada told reporters at the opening of DeXign Global at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City, the event is being held to prepare the Philippines and position the country as a design hub in the region given the upcoming AEC. “We are bringing them (designers from overseas) here to see what we have. This (design) is where we really have our edge,” he said. Rosario Virginia Gaetos, executive director of the DTI’s export marketing arm Center for International Trade and Expositions and Mission (CITEM) told reporters that as the AEC would be established in two years time, the government recognizes that the local design community has to prepare and look at how it can promote its products to the 600 million potential customers in the region. The AEC is expected to lead to free movement of goods, services, investment, skilled labor as well as flow of capital in the region. Gaetos said that for the country to be able to promote its strength in design, it is important for local designers to be updated with trends and innovations in home and fashion products overseas. Business Read More …
ZAMBOANGA CITY — The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) regional office announced on Friday the postponement of the Zampex 2013 regional trade expo, scheduled here for Oct. 10-13.
MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will conduct more information sessions on free trade agreements entered into by the country this year to enable more firms to benefit from such deals. Speaking at the Doing Business Using Free Trade Agreements: Manila Stakeholders Dialogue Forum, DTI’s Bureau of Export Trade Promotion director Senen Perlada said the department plans to hold 125 sessions under the Doing Business in Free Trade Areas (DBFTA) program this year, higher than the total of 116 sessions conducted in 2012. Last year’s 116 sessions were attended by 11,169 participants which represented 5,833 companies. “Why are we doing this? We need to raise the level of awareness on free trade agreements,” Perlada said. He said the free trade agreements open a lot of opportunities for local companies in terms of increasing exports to overseas markets. The DBFTA program, which was launched in 2010, is a series of business information sessions conducted nationwide to increase exporter awareness of the country’s free trade agreements. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Currently the Philippines has free trade agreements with Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The country has also entered into free trade agreements through the ASEAN with China, Korea, India, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. The DBFTA is among the activities being undertaken by the DTI for the country to increase exports. Under the Philippine Export Development Plan, the country’s total exports are targeted to increase to $120 billion by Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Trade of Industry (DTI) is studying the possibility of imposing a price freeze in Zamboanga City amid the ongoing standoff between government troops and members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). DTI Provincial Director Rolando Acuña said the state agency has fielded a team to check on the prices of basic and prime commodities in the area. Basic commodities include fish, rice, sugar, meat and canned goods while prime commodities include fruits, flour, toiletry and soap, among others. Acuña said once in place, the price freeze would return the cost of basic commodities to their prices a month ago. Acuña said most businesses in the city remained close for the second day on Tuesday after fighting broke out between soldiers and the MNLF. He called on businessmen to not take advantage of the situation, and said he is coordinating with the city’s business group to convince establishments to open their shops.
MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has launched six shared service facilities (SSFs) worth P2.9 million in Zambales to help micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) there become more competitive. In a statement, the DTI said it has provided the following SSFs: vegetable noodles processing facility in the municipality of Castillejos; sweet potato processing facility in the municipalities of San Felipe and Cabangan; pastillas processing facility in the municipality of Palauig, as well as Tetrapak bags production facilities in Olongapo City and Candelaria Town. Depending on the line of business, the DTI said the SSFs may be equipped with packaging machines, mechanical driers, industrial weighing scales, noodle making machineries, vegetable and meat slicers, metal craft machineries, milk extraction equipment, deep fat friers, stainless industrial tables, chillers, and freezers. DTI Central Luzon director Judith Angeles said the department has identified nine cooperatives in the province that would benefit from the six SSFs. She said that while initially, the DTI intends to just lend the equipment, after five years, the plan is to give the SSFs to the cooperatives. “This project is similar to the conditional cash transfer of the DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development); ours is conditional equipment transfer,” she said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 She said SSFs would be donated to a cooperative based on the number of beneficiaries, jobs generated, amount of products sold and equipment generated. The SSF program being implemented by the DTI seeks to provide Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is studying a recommendation from the Tariff Commission to extend the safeguard measure imposed on imported testliner boards which expired in June. “It (Tariff Commission’s recommendation) is under evaluation,” Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo said in a text message. He declined to say however when the department would decide on the matter. As the DTI has yet to issue a decision, the tariff on imported testliner boards will remain at its current level of P1,211.15 per metric ton (MT). Testliner boards, which are usually made of recycled paper, are used to produce corrugated boxes for the packaging of consumer products. The Tariff Commission has recommended the extension of the safeguard duty on testliner boards, which expired on June 14, for another three years citing that it is necessary to give the local industry time to implement its adjustment plan and prepare for competition from imports. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 For the first year of implementation, the Tariff Commission is proposing a safeguard duty of P1,150.60 per MT, which represents a five percent reduction in the current safeguard duty of P1,211.15 per MT, following the DTI’s formula. The recommendation was made after the conduct of public hearings for the petition filed by the Philippine Paper Manufacturers Association, Inc. in November last year. The Tariff Commission noted that the local testliner board industry needs to prepare as it faces threat from imports, with tariff rates in various free Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has provided two shared service facilities (SSF) for sugar farmers in Batangas. In a statement, the DTI said it has given an automatic granular packaging machine worth P280,000 to Kamahari Agri-based Multi-Purpose Cooperative in Nasugbu. “Kamahari sells muscovado sugar in 250-and, 500-gram, and one kilogram packs. With the automated packaging machine, Kamahari would be able to sell muscovado in 10-20-and 30-gram sachets to supermarkets, restaurants, hotels and resorts,” DTI said. The Trade department added that at least five more producers of coffee, bignay tea, muscovado and other sugar products within the first district of Batangas would be able to use the packaging machine. Apart from the packaging machine given to Kamahari, the DTI likewise provided a presser or extractor, and workbench amounting to P78,000 to Riverside Multi-Purpose Cooperative, which sells sugarcane juice in Nasugbu. Riverside had earlier acquired a sugarcane press to use for its production, but was only able to sell juice in paper cups due to insufficient output. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Through the new SSF, Riverside is expected to increase its output of juice contained in polyethylene bottles which could be sold to restaurants, beach resorts and supermarkets not just in Batangas, but in Metro Manila as well. The SSF is one of the programs being implemented by the DTI to provide enterprises, particularly those in the countryside, with machinery and equipment to increase their levels of quality, productivity, and competitiveness. The Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) aims to promote growth in Northern Mindanao through increased merchandise exports from that region to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). In a statement, the DTI said it wants to encourage exporters in the region to increase their merchandise shipments to Southeast Asia by informing them of trade opportunities available there. To encourage greater trade between Northern Mindanao and Southeast Asian countries, the DTI will conduct information sessions focused on the upcoming ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) under the Doing Business in Free Trade Area (DBFTA) program next week in Cagayan de Oro City, Iligan City, and Ozamiz City. The DBFTA is a series of business information sessions to be conducted nationwide to increase exporter awareness of the country’s trade agreements. The information sessions to be held in Northern Mindanao will discuss how businesses there could increase trade with Southeast Asian countries. Through the information sessions, the DTI wants businesses, the academe and other stakeholders in Northern Mindanao “to increase their awareness as well as foster appreciation for the benefits of free trade agreements, and (learn about) how they could avail of these benefits.” Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Among the benefits offered by free trade agreements are preferential tariff rates and harmonized standards. The DTI noted that as of the end of 2012, Northern Mindanao’s merchandise exports amounted to $1.17 billion. The region’s exports include fresh and processed fruits, marine products, beverages, food products, coconut Read More …