Firms mull supply chain diversification

More than half of 6,500 traders in the Asia Pacific region that attended last week’s Federal Express webinar about navigating an evolving trade landscape are considering to diversify their supply chain over the next 12 months.

Based on the survey conducted during the seminar, 52 percent of participating companies consider diversification to better adapt to global trade uncertainties posed by the United States’ tariff.

In contrast, 29 percent of webinar participants are not planning on changing their supply chain strategies while 19 percent are actively pursuing diversification plans.

Businesses identified ongoing tariff uncertainty (41 percent) and increasing costs (29 percent) as both the drivers and key barriers to supply chain diversification.

On another issue tackled during the webinar, FedEx Philippines managing director Maribeth Espinosa said customs compliance can often be challenging for many Filipino businesses, especially for small and medium enterprises, which may have a gap in expertise in their lean teams.

“And with the introduction of tools like Customs AI (artificial intelligence) and the HS (Harmonized System) Code Lookup Feature, we hope to alleviate the complexity. These solutions can help to simplify the process, reduce costly delays, and allow our customers to focus more on growing their business rather than navigating documentation requirements. It’s another step in our commitment to making global trade more accessible for Filipino entrepreneurs,” she further explained.

Customs AI is a suite of technologies used by government customs agencies and trading companies to automate, optimize, and enhance various processes within customs administrations and international trade compliance.