I trust that you were happy to leave a problematic 2020 behind you and slip with great expectations into 2021. This is on opportune time to look at opportunities for the country and its citizens in the new year. There is one sector which the Philippines—government and private sector—could untap and develop: the Maritime Industry.
During the last few months, various people have written about the Blue Philippines and came up with many suggestions:
1.) Senator Angara wrote about “The untapped potential of our blue economy” and stated among many other super arguments: “The opportunity has come for us to rethink our economy’s structure. And even though we are still addressing the ongoing pandemic, now is the time to identify how we are as a society can further develop our blue economy. Indeed, the path out of recession may just lead us back to the sea.”
2.) Asis Perez, convener of Tugon Kabuhayan and former director of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, said 22 pending bills in Congress are pushing for a new kind of “Department of Fisheries.” Being the third-largest archipelago in the world with the fifth-longest coastline, it’s curious why the Philippines has not yet established an agency for the maritime sector.
3.) Andrew Masigan wrote various columns about the challenges the Philippines’s maritime sector is facing and made excellent suggestions on where to go from here. His columns were called “Abusive practices of foreign shipping lines, the Philippines needs its own Philippine Flag international shipping line, and Embrace the Blue Economy.”
4.) Since early November, Henry Schumacher has written three stories: “Blue Economy, Blue Economy—the next steps to be taken,” and “Philippines—major maritime player in Southeast Asia.”
All these columns are available and I am glad to send them to you if you want to have a detailed look at the arguments why it makes sense to follow Senator Angara’s push to untap the potential of the Philippine Blue Economy.
To show the size of the sector we are talking about, let me quote from an article written by Andrew Masigan: “For those unaware, the Blue Economy is a development model that focuses on the maritime sector. It encompasses the shipping industry, ship building and repair, ports and shipyards, logistics services, maritime equipment, seafarers and crewing, maritime insurance, fisheries and aquaculture; recreation and tourism; offshore energy exploration, among others. Taken collectively, the Blue Economy is large enough to fast track the country’s economic development.”
Imagine, how many people are involved, how much income can be generated and poverty be eliminated, and how many new businesses will be developed with the right maritime strategies in place.
The development of the Blue Economy is an endeavor that the Philippine government jointly with the private sector need to implement NOW, for the following reasons:
1.) In 2015, the fishing industry contributed 1.5 percent and 1.7 percent at current and constant prices, respectively, to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), with the fisheries sector employing over 1.6 million people, 85 percent of whom were from the municipal fisheries and 1 percent from commercial fishing, while the aquaculture sector employed 14 percent. This maritime subsector has definitely the potential to grow and contribute more to the international food demand.
2.) Through the years, the Philippines has been the world’s largest supplier of maritime services. The maritime service sector is composed of four subsectors:
• Crew supply and management: need to retain and expand the Philippines as the leading maritime country in the world;
• Ship management: need to promote the Philippines as the next maritime services center of Asia and the world;
• Business-process management services, including education and training: need to deepen this part of the BPO industry with the opportunity to develop business-outsourcing services for ship managers, marine insurance, legal services, and others;
• Shipbuilding and repair: the Philippines is one of the large players in this subsector.
3.) Shipping in Asean becomes critically crucial after global trade is affected by US policies. Europe is looking at Asean and Asia as a focus for trade and investments. Luckily, the 15 Asia-Pacific nations, including China, agreed mid-November to clinch the world’s largest free-trade agreement with priority.
4.) The time is now for the Philippine government to establish a world-recognized Blue Philippines by creating an International Shipping Fleet, carrying the National Flag.
What must we do to achieve the potential?
a.) Attract investments in shipping that will allow foreign shipping companies to register their ships in the Philippines.
b.) Enhance a Philippine Ship Registry, which will set the regulations that will encourage and facilitate the registration of safe and environmentally friendly ships.
c.) Allow Philippine flagged vessels to operate domestically and internationally in one registration to enhance their competitiveness.
d.) Encourage and enable the participation of Philippine flagged vessels in the carriage of government cargo to, from and within the Philippines.
e.) Government imports should be secured on FOB (freight costs are separate from the cargo value of imports) to enable Philippine-flagged ships to participate in the carriage of government cargo and thereby earn foreign exchange for the country, and make the profits on these transactions taxable in the Philippines.
In conclusion, the time has arrived for the Philippines to untap the potential of its “blue economy.” Some investors are on standby to clearly see the government show its determination to develop the needed maritime strategies. It may be useful for government leaders, lawmakers of both Houses of Congress and sector leaders to get together and jointly implement the needed steps to this happen.
Source: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/01/05/lets-untap-the-potential-of-the-blue-philippines-in-2021/