SCMAP president Christine Pardiñas believes that a “better appreciation” of the role supply chain plays in growing the Philippine economy will boost efforts to strengthen the sector in 2019.
In an interview which appeared on PortCalls‘ 23 January issue, alongside other industry stakeholders, Pardiñas cites the Ten Commitments outlined in last month’s Logistics Services Philippines Conference as an encouraging sign for the industry as a whole. However, she warns that the signing is just an early step: “What we did are early steps and those would mean nothing if no concrete solutions are proposed and implemented.”
Other efforts include the signing of the Ease of Doing Business Law last year; the upcoming second round of the Logistics Efficiency Indicators survey, which would assess the current health of the Philippines’ supply chain networks as viewed by local practitioners; and the continued investment in infrastructure.
She also foresees a better year for supply chain in 2019 as consumption picks up, particularly with this year being an election year. Continued investment in supply chain from new and existing players, she adds, should also lead to the entry of new technologies and new jobs in the sector.
But issues such as high logistics costs and port capacity issues will remain an issue. “The rising cost of fuel continues to be a challenge, although we hope the situation this year is better compared to last year,” she says. “Ongoing issues with the ports will also continue to affect shipments and businesses, and will translate to higher logistics costs – and higher prices to the end consumer.”
Pardiñas, who represents Rustan Supercenters Inc. as its vice president for supply chain, calls for even closer collaboration between stakeholders in the public and private sectors to foster a better understanding of all sides of the issues, which should lead to better long-term solutions for supply chain. She also calls for continued investment in training and development of supply chain talent, from managers to ground workers.
For its part, SCMAP will continue to promote collaboration among stakeholders through its events, and through the continuing work of collaboration groups established last year. This year the organization also looks to strengthen ties with other organizations that play a role in the overall supply chain.