THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), through its Competitiveness Bureau (CB), held its second Logistics Services Philippines (LSPH) Conference and Exhibition on July 15 and 16 at the Mezzanine Hall, Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City.
With the theme, “Logistics 4.0: Towards an Innovative and Inclusive Logistics Services Sector”, LSPH 2 gathered stakeholders from the logistics services sector, government and development partners to thresh out issues and formulate solutions in a bid to boost competitiveness of logistics services in the country.
Secretary Ramon M. Lopez, during his keynote speech, said that the logistic challenges must be further drilled down to be properly addressed.
“The DTI is working closely with the industry representatives on a number of reforms and this covers reducing logistics costs making “doing business” easier, addressing our human capital requirements, and many more,” the Trade Secretary said.
The event featured different discussions on the global trends and practices and the future of logistics services in the country. It also tackled on how Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) take advantage of Industry 4.0 and how Logistics Service Providers (LSPs) contribute to making MSMEs more globally competitive by incorporating digitalization and innovation-related modules.
In partnership with MSME Council, and Board of Investments, the two-day event showcased the services of around 50 logistics service providers to potential clients: MSMEs, exporters and importers who are looking for reliable and affordable logistics services for their business.
The Trade Secretary, during his speech, also revisited the Joint Administrative Order (JAO) and said that he has instructed Undersecretary Rowel Barba to reconvene the technical working group composed of the Department of Transportation, DTI, and Department of Finance to reconstitute the JAO resolving high shipping costs and port congestion into an executive order (EO).
The 10 Commitments of the Philippine Logistics Service Sector was also revisited by Ms. Marilyn Alberto, president of Philippine Multimodal Transport and Logistics Association, Inc. during the morning session. Recent updates of the logistics sector’s initiatives were also reported.
For Day 2, a special workshop for e-tailers on “Efficient Logistics Services for E-Commerce Driven Demand Chains” was facilitated at the Banquet Hall for the exchange of information between key players in the logistics ecosystem to better identify and explore opportunities among LSPs.
As part of the initiatives to capacitate the MSMEs in the Philippines, the workshop drew perspective from e-tailers on logistics issues that they encounter in the e-commerce industry and formed solutions to address them.
The LSPH Trade Exhibit, on the other hand, ran for two days and served as a steady platform to showcase logistics services such as, but not limited to freight forwarders, air/land/sea transport, storage and warehousing, customs brokerage, cargo handling services and allied services.
Among the present panelists and partners were officials from the Departments of Transportation, Public Works and Highways, Information and Communications Technology, DTI, the Interior and Local Government, Labor and Employment, Education, Commission on Higher Education, Bureau of Customs, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Professional Regulatory Commission, Land Transportation Office, Philippine Ports Authority, and the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina).
LSPH 2 was attended by around 750 delegates, including exporters, business-support organizations, government agencies, private sector, media, and the academe – in which became an avenue to exchange knowledge and insights on global trends, industry prospects, eCommerce, robotics, artificial intelligence, digital solutions, and a future-ready government. (Press Release/DTI)