Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Alfredo Pascual said the country’s electronics and semiconductor export is recovering this year after the double-digit growth in export revenues in February.

Citing preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the outbound shipment of electronic products surged 26.8 percent to USD3.4 billion in February 2024 from USD2.7 billion in the same month last year.

This was driven by semiconductor exports, which expanded by 31.9 percent to USD2.65 billion, “marking the highest value of semiconductor exports recorded in February over the past decade,” the DTI said.

“The electronics sector is evidently recovering, even catching up with the export figures from two years ago,” Pascual said in a statement Wednesday.

“We are hopeful that this growth momentum will be sustained in the coming months.”

He said the agency is closely working with stakeholders, such as the private sector, development partners, and other government agencies, to make Philippine export products more competitive in the global market.

One of these initiatives is the recent visit of a DTI delegation to South Korea to learn from the East Asian country’s support programs, such as the Origin Management System for the Promotion of FTAs (free trade agreements) in the Philippines Project, funded by the Korean government.

The Origin Management System is a platform where exporters can identify if their products could qualify under the respective origin requirements of FTAs and the generalized system of preferences (GSPs).

The platform is also enabled by an artificial intelligence-Harmonized System (HS) classification tool that enables exporters to determine the appropriate HS codes for their products.

“We see the immense potential in this project to boost the development and growth of Philippine exports by simplifying the exporting process and leveraging FTAs/GSP,” DTI Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo said.

The Export Marketing Bureau has also partnered with the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines and the Philippine Export Confederation to offer the Juan for the World Program.

The global trademark incentive initiative aims to help Filipino micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) exporters build a strong brand identity and protect their trademarks.

The DTI added that it would also conduct 24 “Usapang Exports” sessions nationwide to tackle market opportunities, trends, regulations, and other export-related topics.

The DTI said these initiatives are part of its strategies to meet the targets under the Philippine Export Development Plan 2023-2028. (PNA)