DTI exec: Give manufacturing industry a boost

Advancing the manufacturing industry from the number three spot in the country’s top industries will help the country compete with its Asian neighbors in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).”

Undersecretary Cristino Panlilio of the Department of Trade and Industry gave this statement to 300 businessmen, exhibitors and participants in last week’s opening of this year’s Manufacturing Technology Cebu (MTC).

He also challenged them to help boost the manufacturing industry’s performance.

Currently, manufacturing ranks third behind services and agriculture, Panlilio said.

Hitting the trillion GDP mark in Asia are China with six trillion, Japan with four trillion, South Korea one trillion and most recently Indonesia also with one trillion.

Common among these nations is their top-performing manufacturing industry.

“We must pattern our performance from these four countries to boost our sustainable economic growth,” Panlilio said.

While the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry known as the “darling of Philippine economy” is helping our country, there is a need to “ramp up” the manufacturing industry, he said.

He said that a domino-effect of job creation and purchasing power would eventually “stir up demand.”

An example, he cited, was the furniture industry which was creating world-class designs, which local consumers couldn’t afford.

“Our leading furniture manufacturers are so export-oriented. They forget about the local demands like the rising number of condominiums, housing projects, and offices,” he said.

The three-day MTC closed last July 22./Correspondent Jessa Marie Agua