Exporters ‘don’t know much’ about AEC

WITH the policies of the Asean Economic Community (AEC) expected to take effect by December 2015, exporters lamented the slow dissemination of information being provided to them by the government. At the Philippine Export Competitiveness Program seminar series for exporters held yesterday, most participants admitted to have little to almost no knowledge on how the AEC is expected to impact exporters. Even Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) 7 Director Asteria Caberte, during the opening remarks, admitted they were late in responding to requests for discussions on the upcoming Asean integration. However, she believes it can never be too late to prepare local businesses for the effects of integration and hopes that any information businesses can get their hands on will result in exporters contributing a higher share of the country’s gross domestic product. Agnes Perpetua Legaspi, assistant director of the trade information and assistant group of the DTI’s Bureau of Export Trade Promotion (BETP), said one thing businesses can benefit highly from is to do research. As exporters cited the tough competition they are up against from other countries, Legaspi said exporters will do well to find out how their products fare around the world and if they can source materials from other places at lower costs. She noted that not many have taken advantage of the country’s free trade agreements (FTA) with Asean, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, China and India. Provided companies comply with the rules of origin stated in the respective FTA’s, Legaspi said savings from reduced or zero tariffs greatly benefit companies. She urged companies to study the tariff books to find out if they can save in different areas of the business.