This was aired by the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP), architect and urban planner Felino A. Palafox Jr. and Headsail Inc. President Angelo Olondriz on Wednesday at a news conference on the potential of the boat-building and marine-tourism industries in the country.

Among the recommendations of the group is the lowering of import taxes on leisure and luxury watercraft, which Thailand has enacted a decade ago and has resulted in the booming of Phuket’s yachting industry. In 2003 Thailand slashed the luxury import tax from 204 percent to zero percent.

“Currently, the import tax on these watercraft is at 100 percent to 150 percent, same as for luxury vehicles,” Olondriz said.

The Thai government’s move also paved the way for local boat-builders in Thailand to compete with imported crafts, leading to the increase in local players which now export various watercraft worldwide.

Another area for improvement, said ECCP Vice President and General Manager Martial Beck, is the review of the cabotage law, which primarily protects domestic shipping lines from foreign competition. Currently, only domestic shipping lines may ply domestic routes, ramping up shipping costs.

Such a change may usher in interest from foreign lines not just for commercial purposes, or transporting goods, but for tourism purposes.

“If government relaxes the rules, it will help not just for tourism but will improve our logistics cost. The logistics cost of bringing in goods via sea is at 30 percent of the commodity,” Palafox echoed.

“We want to position the Philippines as the Caribbean of the Far East,” said Beck on the tourism aspect, saying that the reforms would likely push marina and waterfront tourist-attraction development along Philippine coasts.

Beck added that developing the local boat-building capability will answer not only to the “luxury needs” of high-rollers, but also to the transportation and logistics needs of ordinary people as more transport water vehicles can be made.

At present, Olondriz said that there are 25 boat-building firms in the Philippines, raking in less than $10 million annually, far below the potential of the industry considering the archipelagic features of the Philippines.

Infrastructure needs, legislative reforms and the future of the industry are set to be discussed in Sea-ex, a nautical lifestyle conference and exhibit to be held at the SMX Convention from February 20 to 22.

The said event is spearheaded by Headsail Inc. and the ECCP; the three-day event will convene manufacturers and distributors of yachts, sail boats, boating accessories, water- sports equipment and other marine-related businesses.

Source: Business Mirror