THE Export Marketing Bureau (EMB) of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is continuing its series of information-session programs, entitled Doing Business in Free Trade Areas, with a session on Doing Business in the United States with updates on the US Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP) held on November 17 at the DTI International Building.
The information session organized by the Market Innovation Division of EMB was attended by companies from various industries. The half-day seminar was conducted as a continuing effort to promote exports to the US, especially with the recent updates on the US GSP and the possible business mission to Fiesta in America Consumer Fair next year.
EMB Assistant Director Agnes Perpetua R. Legaspi opened the session with a presentation on current US consumer trends and updates on the US GSP. She emphasized the importance of the US market that Philippine exporters can develop further.
“In 2016 the US was the Philippines’s second-biggest export market next to Japan, growing at an average annual rate of 2.46 percent for the last five years. Philippine exporters could tap the growing markets in the US for organic and Kosher products and take advantage of the expanded US GSP coverage for travel goods, including handbags, luggage, wallets and backpacks that can now enter the US market duty-free.”
To support exporters in accessing the US market, resource speakers for food storage and handling were also invited. Reshelle Victoria, administrative officer and Zama Yohei-San, assistant manager of Fukushima Corp. in the Philippines presented their food-freezing machinery from Japan.
Also, in preparation for upcoming proposed business missions to the US, the Vice President for Marketing and Communications of Fiesta in America Len Remulla Manansala presented a background of Fiesta in America Consumer Fair to be held on August 11 and 12, 2018 at Meadowlands Expo Center in New Jersey, USA.