Exporters were encouraged anew to equip themselves with new technologies and technology-based solutions to expand internationally, as industry stakeholders gathered on Friday, December 6, 2019, to tackle the importance of digitalization in business growth.
This year’s National Export Congress (NEC) carrying the theme “Driving Exports Through Digital Transformation” focused on technology and innovation initiatives to grow exports and promote collaboration among businesses.
Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez delivered the keynote address of the event. The Congress held at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City, held panel discussions on various topics, such as the critical role of technology and collaboration in growing exports, and enabling exports through digitalization.
Trade Undersecretary Rafaelita Aldaba, Department of Information and Communications Technology Assistant Secretary Emmanuel Caintic, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Managing Director-Center for Learning Pia Roman-Tayag, Department of Public Works and Highways “Build, Build, Build” Committee Chairman Anna Mae Lamentillo, Department of Finance Director Angelica Sarmiento, and Food and Drug Administration Officer in Charge Undersecretary Rolando Enrique Domingo, Ionics EMS Inc. Vice President Earl Qua, Academy of Developmental Logistics Inc. President and Chief Learning Officer Samuel Bautista, Microsoft Technology Strategist Dale Jose, Cecilia Intal of Vesl, and Brilliant Skin Essentials Chief Executive Officer Glenda Victorio will discuss ways how to enable exports through digitalization. Top exporters for 2018 were also recognized during awarding ceremony.
The 2019 NEC came at a time when the Fourth Industrial Revolution is evolving at an exponential pace.
The possibilities of billions of people connected by mobile devices with unprecedented processing power, storage capacity, and access to knowledge are unlimited. And these possibilities will be multiplied by emerging technology breakthroughs in fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, the Internet of Things (IoT), autonomous vehicles, 3D printing, nanotechnology, biotechnology, materials science, energy storage and quantum computing.
Already, AI is all around us—from self-driving cars and drones to virtual assistants and software that translate or invest. Impressive progress has been made in recent years which raised the quality of our lives. IoT can exclude human errors from various sectors. For example, irrigation and farm inputs, such as drone-enabled fertilizers, climate conditions can be integrated by the use of IoT to ensure better yields. It can also be used in power generation and distribution as timely control of these systems in an automated way can reduce losses.
Moderators and panelists also tackled the best of what these technologies have to offer, specifically for the Philippine export sector. The panel sessions focused on “The Critical Role of Technology and Collaboration in Growing Exports” and “Enabling Exports through Digitalization.”
The NEC was the highlight event of the National Exporters’ Week, which is celebrated every first week of December per Presidential Proclamation 931, Series of 1996 and House Resolution 33. Another activity for the National Exporters’ Week was the “Usapang Exports,” held at the Novotel Araneta Center in Cubao, Quezon City, on December 5.
The EMB of the DTI invited exporters to attend “Usapang Exports: Market Opportunities and Trends in Africa-The Next Frontier.”