TRADE-RELATED ASSISTANCE FOR DEVELOPMENT PROJECT SEPTEMBER 2013

T R A D E This newsletter is made possible by the generous support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents of this newsletter are the sole responsibility of the TRADE Project and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.

Commissioner Biazon (right) welcomes TRADE’s Ciel Habito (center) and USAID’s Kevin Sharp (left) at the Bureau of Customs.

BOC looks forward to

passage of the CMTA

Bureau of Customs (BOC) Commissioner

Rufino Biazon, in a meeting with USAID

officials and key personnel of the Trade-

Related Assistance for Development (TRADE)

project on 9 September 2013, expressed his

hope that the technical assistance provided by

TRADE will help with the passage of the

Customs Modernization and Tariff Act

(CMTA). The BOC is the lead counterpart for

the project’s trade facilitation component

focusing on customs modernization and

implementation of the National Single Window.

In attendance were BOC’s Collector John

Simon, USAID’s Kevin Sharp and Ryan

Evangelista, and TRADE staff led by COP Ciel

Habito, with DCOP Gareth Davies, senior

advisor Dr. Ramon Clarete, team leader Cecilia

Reyes, and Edmund Guamen.

TRADE anticipates helping BOC formulate

executive and administrative measures to

implement the CMTA once it is passed in

Congress. As an initial step, TRADE will

identify officers of the bureau who could be

designated as members of the BOC-TRADE

Counterpart Team, with whom TRADE will

work closely to support BOC’s continuing

technical and organizational improvements and

help pursue customs process re-engineering,

especially in ports located in cities covered by

USAID’s Cities Development Initiative. TRADE

aims to help BOC identify and enact key trade

facilitation measures provided for under the

Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC) and the

Philippines-US Trade Facilitation Protocol

(PUSTFP), and assist in redesigning and

improving upon National Single Window

provisions with a view to its faithful

implementation. TRADE shall assist BOC in

enhancing communications, transparency and

private sector engagement.

TRADE COP

brings AEC advocacy

to the regions

“The good thing about the upcoming ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is that it is forcing us to do the right things.” Thus did TRADE Chief of Party Cielito Habito sum up the benefits from the Philippines’ membership in the regional grouping in various forums held in September. Several groups and institutions in different cities have been inviting Dr. Habito to speak on the country’s economic performance and prospects in the face of the AEC in 2015 since he assumed leadership of the USAID TRADE project. The project is geared to assist the Philippine government optimize its membership in the AEC and make good on its commitments under the AEC Blueprint. In September, Dr. Habito brought his message to three cities: Makati and some 100 officers of the United Coconut Planters Bank in the UCPB Head Office on Sept. 16; Iloilo City and a multisectoral audience composed of government officials, business people, NGOs and academe organized by the Regional Development Council of Western Visayas (Region VI) on Sept. 26; and Cebu and around 500 officials, clients and partners of Banco de Oro on Sept. 27. The Philippines’ bilateral trade with its major ASEAN partners has largely been in products of the same industries, on both export and import sides, noted Habito. He cited, for example, how the country’s top imports from Thailand are motor vehicles, electronics, petroleum and chemicals, in return for exports of motor vehicle parts, electronics & electricals and minerals.

(continued next page)

Left: Dr. Habito speaks on Philippine prospects in the AEC during a forum in Cebu attended by about 500 officials, clients and partners of Banco de Oro. Above: Audience members of the Iloilo talk that gathered multisectoral representatives from government, business, NGOs and the academe.

2 TRADE / SEPTEMBER 2013

TRADE expands outreach

In line with its goal of strengthening advocacy for trade policy reform, TRADE took part in the September 30 launch of the Phil-American Fund, a grant-making facility for NGOs involved in, among other areas, enterprise development and governance and transparency. A project implemented by the Gerry Roxas Foundation (GRF), the Phil-Am Fund is a 5-year program that aims to provide NGOs with opportunities to devise groundbreaking solutions to development challenges. TRADE seeks to expand its network with the private sector, NGOs, educational institutions, foundations, media, and think tanks, all of which were represented at the gathering. The TRADE project also took part in the Kapihan sa Embahada, an information fair held on 24 September at the Ballroom One of the Raffles and Fairmont Makati. The event was organized by the US Embassy’s Public Affairs Section, in cooperation with USAID, and carried the theme “US-Philippines Partnership for Growth (PfG)”. It featured the different programs of USAID/Philippines under the PfG. The TRADE delegation was led by Chief of Party Ciel Habito and was joined by a government counterpart from the Bureau of Customs, Collector John Simon. The Kapihan began with opening remarks by US Ambassador Harry K. Thomas, Jr. followed by a moderated discussion with representatives from the USAID, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and the US Department of Justice and Department of Treasury. The PfG is a bilateral agreement that seeks to promote higher, sustained and more inclusive growth for the Philippines and put the economy on par with other high performing emerging economies.

TRADE COP … (from p. 1)

Top imports from Singapore are electronics, machinery and petroleum, but our top exports to Singapore are also electronics & electricals, machinery, and petroleum. The country’s trade with Malaysia is similarly dominated by electronics, petroleum and chemicals in both directions. Habito points out that the Philippines’ trade with ASEAN is largely intra-industry in nature (i.e., in products belonging to the same industries). “This shows that our trade relationships in ASEAN are largely complementary rather than competitive in nature. Our trade opportunities therefore lie in being part of regional and global value chains.”

Habito’s audiences in all three cities consistently welcomed his confidence in the Philippine economy’s expected resilience in the face of closer regional economic integration by 2015. “With the right policy reforms, some of which have been overdue for decades, we should be able to maximize our benefits from the opportunities that AEC presents, so that the winners would far exceed any losers,” Habito asserted. He added: “The challenge is to find creative mechanisms for the winners to be able to help compensate the losers, so that a win-win outcome can be achieved.”

The TRADE project has moved from its temporary location in BPI Buendia Center to a bigger office in Legazpi Village. The new headquarters is on the third floor of the HERCO Center on Benavidez St., Makati City. The place is proximate to Asian Institute of Management, Greenbelt Shopping Area and Legaspi Columns.

New headquarters for TRADE

Top: One of the staff offices Bottom: Lobby area and executive offices

TRADE PROJECT STAFF Chief of Party: Dr. Cielito F. Habito • Deputy Chief of Party: Gareth J.

Davies • Senior Adviser for Trade Policy: Dr. Ramon L. Clarete • Trade

Policy Specialist: Myrene Bedaño • Component Lead for Trade

Facilitation: Cecilia V. Reyes • Adviser for Trade Facilitation: Edmund C.

Guamen • Component Lead for Competition Policy: Gigo Alampay •

Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist: Miguel V. Guioguio •

Communications Specialist: Kimi Tuvera • Research Assistant: Abigail

Dumalus • Director of Operations: Mitos Q. Aldave • Project

Accountant: Imelda L. Mallari • Administrative Assistant: Rose Catindoy

Dr. Habito explains TRADE’s objectives to US Ambassador Thomas during the Kapihan. Also in photo is USAID Mission Director Gloria Steele.

The TRADE Kapihan delegation (L-R): Cecilia Reyes, Gigo Alampay, Abi Dumalus, Mitos Aldave, Rose Catindoy, Bureau of Customs’s John Simon, Dr. Habito, USAID’s Gloria D. Steele, USAID’s Dan Miller, Imee Mallari, Myrene Bedaño and USAID’s John Avila.

During the launch of the Phil-Am Fund, TRADE’s Ciel Habito (1st from left) and Abi Dumalus (2nd from left) explain the project using PowerPoint, brochures, flyers and banner to an inquiring NGO participant.

TRADE’s delegation to the Phil-AM Fund Launch (L-R): Rose Catindoy, US Ambassador Harry K. Thomas, Dr. Ciel Habito, Mike Guioguio and Gigo Alampay.