Business leaders are urging the Department of Trade and Industry to create a convergence program with other government agencies to develop the export market in the Visayas.
Officials from the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry-Visayas met with Trade and Industry Sec. Alfredo Pascual in Iloilo City on Saturday, June 10, and discussed the concerns of the business sector, Frank Carbon, PCCI Vice President for the Visayas, said Tuesday.
Carbon, who is also the chief executive officer of the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that export products from the Visayas are having a hard time competing in foreign markets because of higher wages and cost of utilities like electricity, among others.
He said that wages in the Philippines are among the highest in Southeast Asia, while electricity cost is also high.
“It is very hard to attract foreign investments or foreign partners who can bring in fresh capital and new technology because of these problems,” Carbon said adding that labor and power are essential things for the manufacturing of export products.
PCCI-Visayas is urging the DTI to collaborate with the Labor and Employment, Interior and Local Government, and Energy departments to create programs and solve these problems and concerns, he said.
Carbon said they also discussed development investments with Pascual for the establishment of more plants in rural areas to raise the value of the country’s agricultural products.
Development investments should not fully focus on the urban areas but should also be in rural areas where half of the population lives, he added.
He said if these concerns are addressed, their long-term effect will help ease the country’s debt.*