The Export Development Council (EDC) manifests its support on the full investment liberalization outside of the natural monopolies through a joint statement of support with the Industry Leaders, namely the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. (PHILEXPORT), Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP), and Supply Chain Management Association of the Philippines (SCMAP).
With the group mentioned, EDC strongly opposes moves to return transportation, telecommunication, and power generation back to the definition of Public Utilities. Continue reading EDC and Industry Leaders support full investment liberalization outside of the natural monopolies
There is a silver lining on the issue of lack of vessel space and containers, as another Philippine shipping company based in Mindanao, the Reefer Express Line Filipinas, Inc. takes on long haul US route with its vessel MV Cool Spirit to help the exporters ship their goods amid the current global transport and logistics problem. The voyage started from General Santos City last 02 September 2021. 
The Royal Cargo, Inc. (RCI) will commence its maiden voyage to Los Angeles by mid-September this year. Its launch will be made through one of the vessels of Iris Logistics Inc. (Iris Paoay), a Philippine shipping company 80% owned by RCI. Iris Paoay is a general container cargo vessel with 1100 TEUs capacity.
The Department of Finance (DOF), Bureau of Customs (BOC), together with the Anti-red Tape Authority (ARTA) headways the onboarding activities of the eighteen (18) trade regulatory priority agencies in TradeNet; Six (6) of which were recently onboarded which include BAFS, SRA, FPA, EMB, NMIS and OMB. These agencies are still finalizing their module manuals, operational guidelines, and helpdesk in preparation for their live implementation. The TradeNet Steering Committee also pledged to include another twelve (12) agencies to onboard by September 2021.
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) prepares the PH live exchange of the ASEAN Customs Declaration Document (ACDD) by December 2021, via the TradeNet. The completion of the ACDD system’s bidding process received concurrence from the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) on 05 August 2021. BOC is now crafting a national master data plan with the USAID ASEAN Policy Implementation (API) Project Team for Interoperability. 
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) partners with the Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) in fostering financial resilience for MSMEs. UnionBank presented during a webinar their initiatives on assisting the micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) amidst the digital shift, focusing on their products, namely the MSME Business Banking App, UPay, and SeekCap, all geared towards financial resilience.
EDC lauds the Department of Finance (DOF) and Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) on deferring the implementation of Revenue Regulation (RR) no. 9-2021, which levies 12% VAT on indirect exports pending issuance of an amendatory regulation. BIR will provide the transition process for those who already paid the 12% VAT while the RR was in effect from June 27 to July 21, 2021.
The Export Development Council’s (EDC) Networking Committee on Transport and Logistics (NCTL) and the Supply Chain Management Association of the Philippines (SCMAP) recommended the postponement of the proposed rate increases of the Manila North Harbour Port, Inc. (MNHPI).
The Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) virtually launched the Reengineering Manual towards Efficient Philippine government services. A reference that supports the whole-of-government approach in streamlining Philippine government systems and procedures in delivering public services. This initiative is the result of a Memorandum of Understanding between the UK Government and ARTA signed last 4 February 2020.