F&B INDUSTRY

F&B valued at P108.4B status even as the world economy is going through a rough patch that experts fear could slash global output to near recessionary levels.”

He was referring to the recent warning by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that the global economy could suffer a pronounced growth downturn this year to 2.5 percent to 2.8 percent from 2022’s 3.4 percent, because of the precarious phase of stubborn inflation, slow recovery from the pandemic, prolonged Russia-Ukraine war, increasing trade tensions, and interest rate hikes by central banks, among others.

For Villafuerte, one bright spot for the Philippines amid the downtrend in the global economy is Fitch Ratings’ revision or upgrade last May of its Philippines’ Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to “Stable” from “Negative” and affirmation of its “BBB” rating. This, he said, “reflected the credit watcher’s confidence that our country is heading for strong medium-term growth after the pandemic, on the back of its sound economic policy framework.”

V illafuerte said the MIF will serve as a growth driver for the domestic economy by attracting private investments despite external headwinds that heighten global economic and financial uncertainties and threaten the Marcos administration’s near- and medium-term agenda for inclusive and sustainable development.

Moreover, with the MIF as a new source for investment funds, the government can spend much more on its priority projects without resorting to additional foreign borrowings, he pointed out.

I n becoming a new investment fund source for high-impact, economically viable programs and projects, he said “the MIF would help the NG prevail over two drawbacks that threaten to handicap the Marcos administration’s agenda to sustain the robust economic growth path post-pandemic, create jobs and attack poverty, and keep the Philippines on its AmBisyon Natin 2040 path of becoming a prosperous middle-class society in less than two decades.”

A nd these two main challenges to high and inclusive growth, he said, are, “One, the government’s presently limited fiscal space as a consequence of the immense public spending on Covid-19 response that the preceding Administration have had to resort to; and second, the economic slowdown across the world.”

See “Global,” A2

FILIPINO food has been having a moment in the United States and a few other countries in the West, a development long predicted by food critic Andrew Zimmerman and the late chef and travel feature host Anthony Bourdain.

B ut international travelers are still not visiting the Philippines for its cuisine. According to a survey commissioned by the Department of Tourism (DOT) in 2021, the Philippines ranks poorly in food exploration/cooking classes compared to its other Southeast Asian neighbors. Malaysia and Singapore ranked the highest in this category. (See, “They won’t visit PHL for history and culture,” in the BusinessMirror , May 26, 2023.)

O rganizers of The Manila Food and Wine Festival, launched on July 14, hope to change that. Co-organizer Spanky Hizon Enriquez said in his opening remarks at the Westin Sonata Manila ballroom on Friday that the festival “hopes to position the Philippines as a center for food and culinary tourism in Asia.” The festival, originally to conclude on July 27, has been extended to “midAugust as more restaurants want to participate,” he told the BusinessMirror

THE Manila festival, he added, was patterned after the recent Cebu Food and Wine Festival, and will have interations in other provinces. “The goal is to create a clear and conscious effort to come up with elevated events that will strengthen the world class ambitions of restaurants/ hotels, and inspire the rest to do the same,” he said.

Enriquez, who is also founder of the Restaurant Owners of the Philippines, stressed, “We survived the gauntlet of the pandemic, and these events will serve to sustain the momentum of recovery of the food and beverage industry, particularly the restaurants. We were all set to have a ‘Golden Age’ in 2020 until Covid hit. Now is the time to bring that to fruition.”

A bout 32 percent of the 5.35-million workforce in the country’s tourism industry are accounted for by hotels and restaurants, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. The same data also showed the tourism direct gross value added of the F&B-serving industry reached P108.36 billion in 2022, though this was still 41 percent off the prepandemic level of P183.4 billion.