The Philippine Export Development Plan (PEDP) 2011-2013 was approved with some enhancements by President Benigno S. Aquino, III in his meeting with the Export Development Council (EDC) last 11 July 2011 in Malaca├▒an.

The PEDP targets US$89 billion export revenue for 2013 from the average exports of US $58 billion in 2008-2010. The PEDP goes beyond the usual three year plan and targets doubling exports to $120 billion by 2016.

To achieve these targets, the Plan adopts core product, market and promotion strategies. The product strategies involve moving up the value chain, capturing higher value processes in the global supply chain, and developing product linkages for organic, natural and certification-enabled products.

The market strategies include maximizing benefits of free trade agreements, targeting high-growth emerging markets, and attracting international firms to move their supply chain nodes to the Philippines.

The key export promotion strategy is integrating tourism, services and merchandise trade not only to maximize returns on promotional spending but also to achieve market share growth and the capacity to sustain it. Furthermore, export promotions shall focus on precision (quality) rather than profusion (quantity).

The President has given the directive for the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to allot P100 million for export promotion. This was specified in a memorandum by Sec. Julia A. R. Abad, of the Presidential Management Staff to Sec. Florencio B. Abad, of the Department of Budget and Management. The amount was proposed by the Export Development Council during its meeting with the President on 11 July 2011 in Malacanan, for the implementation of the newly approved Philippine Export Development Plan (PEDP) 2011-2013.

The PEDP spells out the strategies to develop and promote exports for the next three years in order to create more jobs for the Filipinos.

The Export Development Council's Networking Committee on Human Resource Development (EDC NC-HRD) and the National Competitiveness Council's Education and Human Resource Development Working Group (NCC-Edu/HRD WG) recently joined forces for a more efficient and effective education and human resource development to enhance the competitiveness of the country.

The move strengthens the link between the industry and the education sector to match the skills and knowledge of the workforce with the needs of the businesses. It will also enhance competitiveness by reshaping the education system to emphasize academic, technical-vocational and entrepreneurial aptitude to create a versatile workforce for the industry and to ensure the continuous advancement of relevant knowledge and skills through a permanent industry-education cooperation.

Export Performance May/Jan-May 2011
(F.O.B Value in Million US$)