THE Philippines is targeting to increase export revenues from rubber by 33 percent to $56 million this year. 

The Department of Agriculture (DA) said industry players are looking to expand the volume of natural rubber production by 10 percent to 450,000 metric tons (MT) this year.

In 2007 the Philippines exported roughly $42 million worth of latex, rubber plates and other rubber products, mostly to China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia.

Last year, the national production of natural rubber from 111,000 hectares of farms expanded by 15 percent to 404,000 MT worth P15.4 billion, from 351,000 tons valued at P12.3 billion in 2006.

For the first three months of the year, DA figures show that natural rubber production went up by 6.8 percent to 65,000 MT. The top three rubber-producing regions are Soccsksargen (35,700 MT), Zamboanga Peninsula (2,700 MT) and Davao Region (2,800 MT).

At least 190,000 Filipinos are directly and indirectly dependent on rubber farming as a major source of livelihood and incomes.

The DA’s Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) High-Value Commercial Crops Program is targeting to open 21,600 hectares of additional rubber areas this year, in addition to the 20,500 hectares developed last year.

To support the expansion program and the implementation of other intervention measures, Agriculture Secretary Arthur  Yap said the DA needs to invest at least P300 million over the next two years in this subsector—at least P70 million this year, and another P226 million in 2009.

The DA noted that prospects are bright for rubber farmers around the world as global consumption has been increasing by approximately 208,000 tons since 1995, and is expected to reach 31.8 million tons by 2020.

To position the Philippines as one of the top producers of natural rubber in the world, the DA has embarked on a 15-year Rubber Development Program which calls for increasing export revenues from natural rubber to $960 million by 2020.

AN ECONOMIST from the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) projects that Filipinos may have already seen the worst of high food and oil prices and would see stable price tags by August and October.

A COMBINATION of market forces and the collective effort by the real-estate developers is keeping lease rates down in Metro Cebu, making the area very competitive as it tries to attract locators, especially into its booming offshoring and outsourcing industry.

UNLESS solid government support backs industry, the outsourcing and offshoring (O&O) road map would hit bumps and sharp curves, a researcher from property broker Jones Lang LaSalle Leechiu Inc. said.

HOPING to spur competition among private generation companies to help lower cost of electricity to industrial and commercial users to a comfortable level, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) is targeting to pass a resolution on the proposed interim open access (IOA) in the next two months.

TOURISM advocates from the private sector got their much needed political support in their fight to oppose the planned closure of Baguio’s lone airport in Loakan when Baguio Rep. Mauricio Domogan said he would ask the six other Cordillera lawmakers to join him in opposing the plan.

ZAMBOANGA CITY —Military officials stationed on the island province of Sulu have come up with a concept paper entitled, “Poverty Alleviation through Enhancement of Agri-fishery Cooperatives,” believing that economic development helps achieve lasting peace in a particular place.

THE Philippines is targeting to increase export revenues from rubber by 33 percent to $56 million this year. 

The Department of Agriculture (DA) said industry players are looking to expand the volume of natural rubber production by 10 percent to 450,000 metric tons (MT) this year.