AN official of the European Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines (ECCP) believes the government is “ignoring” the creative-design industry in the country despite its huge contribution to the domestic economy.

ECCP executive vice president Henry Schumacher said part of the chamber’s advocacy is to get more attention for the design industry, which he says contributes between 5 percent to 10 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

“There is no program focused on the creative-design industry for years now. We should put focus on the natural talent that is available here,” Schumacher told the BusinessMirror Tuesday.

“There are many people in the private sector and the government who do not really appreciate how creative the Filipinos are. We need to get attention to this industry and get our message across.”

He said the creative industry, along with the outsourcing and offshoring industries and the medical tourism segments, are the three future industries for the Philippines.

The ECCP launched in Cebu City its materials research and development program to help local designers in the furniture, fashion-accessories, gifts, toys and housewares industries here in learning and using new materials in their creations that are mostly exported.

Schumacher said that aside from the manufacturing industries, there are also world-class creative Filipinos in the performing arts, television, animation, advertising and multimedia.

“The creative-design industry is part of the future of the Philippines. We should be selling our designs, not our people,” Schumacher said.

“Hong Kong, Bangkok and Singapore claim to be creative capitals. I say Filipinos in Singapore are the ones who are creative.”

Together with partner organizations, ECCP is making a map of the creative industry of the Philippines to identify the strengths of the regions.

The Cebu Furniture Industries Foundation (CFIF) are also pushing for beefing up the design  industry as it continues to position itself in the high-end market abroad.

“Cebu’s strength is in the use and manipulation of materials,” CFIF president Eric Casas said.

MADRID, Spain—The Philippines will shed more than one percentage point out of its gross domestic product (GDP), experience higher inflation, and force the Bangko Sentral to jack up interest rates in 2008 and 2009 due to high food and oil prices, according to the latest study released by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

FOREIGN businessmen are asking the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to relax restrictions on the entry of professional workers and lower the entry barrier to retail trade under the 8th Regular Foreign Investment Negative List (FINL).

AN official of the European Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines (ECCP) believes the government is “ignoring” the creative-design industry in the country despite its huge contribution to the domestic economy.

LOOKING at providing reliable power supply to people of Palawan, the provincial government there has programmed to allot P110 million to finance its solar home-system project.

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CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—The Department of Tourism (DOT) is set to embark on a nationwide campaign to increase awareness and promote the country’s adventure and ecotourism destinations and activities.