Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said the impact of the 2019 novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease (2019-nCoV ARD) in the country’s trade and economic performance is very minimal.
Lopez said the country’s overall trade with the province of Hubei province — which is ground zero of the 2019-nCoV threat — is only 0.9 percent of the total trade with China.
“Hubei only shared 1.2% of the Philippines’ import from China.”
Hubei only forms 1.2 percent of the country’s import from China and only 0.5 percent of the country’s total export to the East Asian nation, Lopez added.
“Assuming companies are sourcing from affected areas in China, (they) may find alternative sources so as not to disrupt their supply chain. So this would further minimize the impact on trade,” the Trade Secretary said.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) show that from January to November last year, two-way trade between the Philippines and China amounted to $31.34 billion.
The Philippines’ exports to China stood at $8.79 billion while imports from China reached $22.55 billion.
“The main effect of the 2019-nCoV is on the movement of people.”
Lopez however noted that the main effect of the 2019-nCoV is on the movement of people, particularly on the tourism sector.
“But it can mean lowering of hotel and plane rates to encourage more domestic tourism,” Lopez said.