Publications

Maximizing the Benefits of Free Trade Agreements: Identifying and Addressing the Gaps in the Utilization of Philippine FTAs

May 2024 Download

The Philippines has been actively pursuing free trade agreements (FTAs) with major trading partners as part of its economic strategy to boost trade and investment. FTAs present opportunities and tangible benefits for Philippine firms, offering them preferential access to key export markets and opportunities to expand their businesses and exploit new opportunities. Therefore, maximizing the benefits of these FTAs is crucial for the country’s sustainable economic development and competitiveness in the global market. Addressing the gaps in FTA utilization particularly among Philippine exporters requires a holistic approach that combines awareness-raising, capacity-building, streamlined procedures, and targeted support for MSMEs. This means that successful utilization of FTAs by businesses requires active engagement, communication and collaboration among relevant public and private stakeholders.

Increasing Productivity and Competitiveness of the Food Supply Chain Sector in the Philippines: Interactions, Challenges, and Solutions

April 2023 Download

The food processing sector plays a crucial role in the large-scale industry for manufacturing and enhancing the quality, value, and perishability of edible products while also being a strategic opportunity for developing countries for new sources of revenue and revenue employment generation. In the contemporary and complex business environment, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) started developing opportunities to further their relationship with the food processing sector’s large scale global value supply chains. This study aims to
describe the food processing sector’s supply chain, identify the constraints, and determine measures and strategies to address these issues. With the growing participation of MSMEs in the supply chain, this study also presents how MSMEs can access and be part of the supply chain of the food processing sector in this growing competitive environment. This paper draws on the interviews conducted with representatives from various sectors and desk research as a qualitative case-study.

Drivers Of Export Competitiveness: Identifying and Addressing The Supply Chain Constraints of Gifts, Decors, Housewares, and Furnishings Sector

April 2023 Download

The Philippine gifts, décor, and houseware (GDH), alongside the furnishing sector, are two industries dominated by micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). In the 2016 GDH Roadmap, a total of 2,412 handicraft enterprises were indicated, with the majority located in the National Capital Region, Region 5, and Region 12. These two industries are often described as unique since the majority of the products under the sectors are handmade and they provide the much needed employment in several regions. To address this challenge, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), through this study, aims to identify the supply chain constraints in the GDH, toys, and furnishing sectors, and generate solutions to drive up the sectors’ export competitiveness. This study will discuss the constraints, alongside its causes and impacts, and explore how MSMEs can gain access to and effectively participate in the sectors’ supply chain.

Reform our Education, Transform our Future

September 2022 Download
The PCCI Education Task Force (ETF) focused on coming up with constructive and doable recommendations to improve Philippine Education.
As such, this policy paper, Reform our Education, Transform our Future, is a collection of policy recommendations and solutions for the betterment of Filipino learners, educators, workers and their families. The PCCI ETF lays forth the direction we must take toward achieving the goals we want to meet. A key part of fostering innovation is to build on and enhance the tools available for the learned Filipino.

Labor Market Intelligence (LMI) Study on Fruits and Vegetable Processing Sector of Philippines

August 2022 Download
This labor market intelligence (LMI) report offers a general look at the status of the Fruits and Vegetable Processing (F&VP) sector in the Philippines. The report examines a number of factors such as the supply of skills, demand from the industry, and where the possible gaps could be. It also includes constraints that affect the sector’s growth. Using various methods such as focus group discussions, survey questionnaires, and in-depth research, the LMI aims to contribute to the sector’s roadmap development.

The Skills Gap in The Philippine Food Processing Sector Amidst Industry 4.0 And The Covid-19 Pandemic

January 2022 Download
The accelerated challenges and changing demands of the Industry 4.0 have created the need for new skills, competencies, and qualifications to cope with the fast-changing business environment. The economic reconstruction efforts after the pandemic will also offer an excellent opportunity for the business sector to respond to the skills needed for the new normal proactively. To address the above-mentioned challenges, the project aims to develop and implement skills upgrading modules and training programs for Exporters. For this purpose, an initial study will be conducted to identify the skills gaps in the sector to develop training modules and implement training programs to increase the sector’s export potential.

Research On Identifying Skills Gaps to Increase the Export Potential Of The ICT Sector In Consideration Of The Impact Of The Pandemic And Industry 4.0

January 2022 Download
The ICT sector engaged in exports includes business process outsourcing, shared services, animation, health information management, software development, and game development. The Philippines has roughly 190,000 software developers, according to the Philippine Software Industry Association. By 2022, the number is predicted to reach 210,000. The Philippines’ software business is already worth approximately $3.2 billion, and it is expected to grow to $5 billion by 2020. While the pandemic had an impact on the hospitality and tourism industries, IBPAP claims that verticals such as health care, finance and administration, e-commerce and retail, banking, and insurance increased enough to assist support the industry’s headcount and revenue growth.

Research Study on Identifying Skills Gaps To Increase The Export Potential Of The Gifts, Decors, And Housewares (GDH) Sector Considering The Impact Of The Pandemic And Industry 4.0

January 2022 Download
The Gifts, Decors, and Housewares (GDH) industries in the Philippines are all dominated by micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) (Pillas, 2016). These sectors exhibit uniqueness and showcases the Filipino artistry as the production for most of the products in the GDH are handmade and are manufactured using indigenous materials (Industry.gov.ph Web site, 2016) such as abaca fiber, bamboo, buri, seashells and other native plants. Despite the successes of the industries, however, the contribution of the sectors with regard to the total Philippine export was only 0.59 percent last 2016 and other neighboring countries such as Thailand and Vietnam already exceeded the country’s export capacity for similar products (Pillas, 2016). Penetrating the export market now is more difficult for stakeholders of the industries due to numerous issues surrounding it, including competitive price setting, bureaucratic bottlenecks, and employee training, among others (Business World, 2021), especially with the emergence of the COVID-19 and the Industry. 4.0. The main objective of this research was to identify the skills gaps in light of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and Industry 4.0 in order to increase the export potential of the Sector.

K to 12 PLUS Project Tracer Study

July 2020 Download
This tracer study was commissioned by Sequa gGmbH (hereafter also referred to as “Sequa”) for its K to 12 PLUS Project, co-financed by BMZ with the support of AFOS Foundation for Entrepreneurial Development Cooperation, Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG), Deutsche Auslandshandelskam-mern (AHK), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Savings Banks Foundation for International Cooperation (SBFIC), Zentralverband des deutschen Handwerks (ZDH) and carried out by Mainlevel Consulting AG (Mainlevel).

Implementing the Standard for In-Company Trainer in ASEAN Countries – Philippines Case Study

October 2019 Download

In-company training is globally recognised as a best practice to provide students and apprentices with technical knowledge and practical skills. It complements education in vocational schools by offering hands-on training, experience with real work proceses and access to up-to-date know-how from business and industry. Between 2014 and 2015, with the support of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BiBB) and the Karlsruher Institut für
Technologie (KIT), a regional working group addressed the need to define a benchmark for the essential competencies of trainers engaged in workplace TVET delivery for the ASEAN region. In a collaborative process, the working group developed The Standard
for In-Company Trainers in ASEAN Countries (ASEAN In-CT Standard).

Download the Standards here

Developing Hospitality Professionals: A Philippine Senior High School Case Study

November 2016 Download
This report seeks to share the lessons and good practices culled from the experience of implementing the pilot Laiya Hospitality Cluster and demonstrate effective strategies that can be replicated by other organizations in different locations – even in different industries. These methods are seen to be most useful for those who also wish to actively participate and contribute to the development of the K to 12 educational system through integrating the dual training approach in Vocational and Educational Training. This report aims to advocate for the nationwide usage of the dual training approach as it helps to directly address the problem of job skills mismatch that hampers the economic growth of the country.

A Cost Benefit Study on Dual Training System (DTS)

October 2016 Download
The TESDA and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) – Human Resources Development Foundation (HRDF) conducted a study of the Cost and Benefit Analysis of the Dual Training System in the Philippines, with the main objectives of determining the desirability of the program given the costs and benefits for the firms. Ultimately, the study aims to find out if the benefits that can be generated by the firm from the DTS program outweigh the costs of training the student/trainee, then there is the likelihood that the firm will continue investing and participating in the DTS.

Towards a Philippine Education Export

January 2016 Download
This Report aims to ‘complete the coverage’ of an education roadmap for the Philippines covering both higher and technical/ vocational training (TVET). It does so by providing an initial mapping of the ways in which a stronger trade focus could support existing education initiatives. It coincides with the publication by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) of a draft Memorandum Order (CMO) on the internationalization of higher education.

Dual Training System (DTS) in the Philippines

July 2015 Download
The study reveals interesting results that are noteworthy in strengthening the DTS program in the country. For one, contrary to popular belief, the study revealed that the combined short- and long-term benefits derived by the firms from the DTS program clearly outweigh the overall costs.