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The National Logistics Strategy to be launched by the Department of Trade and Industry next month will address problems and cut costs in the logistics industry
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The NLS will be launched during the next LSPH Conference on December 19
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DTI has mapped out areas where 455 priority infrastructure projects for the logistics industry have been identified by the private sector
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DTI will do a study on supply chains of selected agricultural commodities with a focus on the cost of transport and logistics
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will launch next month the National Logistics Strategy (NLS) that aims to address problems and reduce costs in the logistics industry.
DTI, together with Logistics Services Philippines (LSPH) and with assistance from the US Agency for International Development-Regulatory Reform Support Program for National Development (RESPOND) project, initiated formulation of the NLS, said DTI Assistant Secretary Mary Jean Pacheco in a presentation during the Procurement and Supply Institute of Asia forum on November 17.
LSPH is an informal group of private sector organizations representing various segments of the supply chain and logistics industry that was formed after the 1st Logistics Services Philippines Conference and Exhibit in 2018.
The NLS will be an update on the 10 Commitments of the Philippines Logistics Sector to collaborate on finding solutions to problems affecting logistics services and ensure the sector’s development and competitiveness. The declaration was signed by LSPH members and relevant government agencies during the first LSPH Conference in 2018.
Pacheco said the NLS will be launched during the next LSPH Conference scheduled on December 19 so that implementation can start in the new year.
Aside from the NLS, DTI has mapped out areas where investments in logistics infrastructure are needed or required. The map covers 455 priority infrastructure, of which 196 are in Luzon, 160 in Mindanao, and 99 in Visayas.
The map was based on inputs by the private sector and will be submitted to the Departments of Transportation and Public Works and Highways for consideration.
Pacheco said that during supra-regional consultations conducted by DTI in various areas nationwide in August and September, infrastructure was the major issue that various stakeholders had raised, aside from policies and port charges.
She said DTI will also be doing a study on the supply chains of selected agricultural commodities, focusing on the cost of transport and logistics with the end-view of reducing the cost of logistics and ensuring affordability and accessibility of food, and improving the competitiveness of products for export.
Pacheco cited the need to identify first the logistics cost per product so DTI can check whether it has succeeded in cutting logistics costs with the interventions that will be implemented.
Aside from the National Logistics Strategy, the department in 2016 also started crafting a National Logistics Master Plan but this was not launched. The private sector launched in the same year the first Philippine Multimodal Transport and Logistics Roadmap.
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