By Jenina P. Ibañez, Reporter
TECH-ENABLED export platform 1Export is aiming to record P500 million in revenues by the end of 2022 as it links more local small businesses to global markets.
“We recently recorded about P25 million in revenue in 2020,” 1Export Chief Operating Officer (COO) Daniel Antonio S. Remo said in a press briefing on Tuesday.
“We want to be able to do half a billion by the end of 2022… We just recently got backed by several investment firms, and we intend to be able to scale our capabilities as well as our headcount,” he said.
Offering compliance, business matching and marketing services for exporters, the company plans to expand to around 60 destination markets from its current 23 by the end of next year. 1Export helps sell products to ethnic markets, mainstream stores, and wholesale markets overseas, including North America, the United Kingdom and the Middle East.
The firm works with 400 micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), targeting expansion to 3,000 Southeast Asian MSMEs.
1Export will be launching offices in Indonesia, and the company plans to expand further across Southeast Asia.
Philippine merchandise exports in May went up by 29.8% year on year to $5.89 billion. In the first five months of 2021, exports grew 21.4% to $29.35 billion, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed.
Although exports rose from a low base in 2020, economists said that the data fell below expectations, with ING Bank NV Manila Senior Economist Nicholas Antonio T. Mapa saying that gains may have been hampered by limited shipment options amid industry bottlenecks.
Exporters have recently been facing logistics delays, reporting vessel space and container shortages that cause freight rate surges. Industries globally are reporting supply chain constraints and shortages as some economies bounce back amid the pandemic.
1Export works with various logistics companies, committing certain volumes to airlines and freight forwarders, to minimize shipping costs.
“Sea shipping currently is significantly high. We also do shipping via air — and that’s sort of where our volumes come in,” 1Export Chief Executive Officer Anna Melissa G. Nava said.