Steady growth in electronics towards yearend seen

Despite being in limbo this year, the electronics sector is seen to enjoy tolerable growth toward the yearend amid the 4 percent slump in the last three quarters of the current year.

In an interview during the sidelines of the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of Trade and Industry, Unilab Foundation, and Makati Business Club, forming the group Advanced Manufacturing Workforce Development Alliance or AMDev, Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation, Inc. president Dr. Dan Lachica said a flat growth in electronics exports is still possible.

"As you know, we were clobbered in the first quarter, we contracted 15 percent. We recovered in quarter two, where the deficit was reduced to 7 percent, and now in the third quarter, around 4 percent," said Lachica.

Data from SEIPI said the country's exports last September 2023 stood at $6.728.89 million, 65.44 percent of which are from the electronics sector.

While for the September 2023 imports, SEIPI logged $10.239.90 million, 21.45 percent came from the electronic sector.

From the January-to-September period, electronics exports reached $33.75 billion, representing a 4.37 percent decline versus the $35.3 billion in the same period last year.

"I just saw the September numbers. It is around -4 percent, but the good news is we are looking at a very positive fourth quarter," Lachica added.

In a separate interview on Wednesday with the DAILY TRIBUNE's digital show Straight Talk, Lachica said the whole electronics industry posted $49.09 billion of exports in 2022 alone, which is about 13 percent of our country's GDP.

The top five countries that receive Philippine electronic exports are Hong Kong, the United States, China, Japan, and Singapore.