Philippine 2004 Trade Deficit - a Hunger for Energy?
How come it doesn’t surprise me that our biggest trade deficits are with countries who export energy products? (Orange Bars in the Graph)
Ok ok, so I’m not really sure if we are importing any energy products from Argentina since they are primarily exporters of food products and I’m not sure if we have any natural gas powered power plants(from CIA Factbook)
But if you think about it, this is more reason why we should start concentrating on the passage of our biofuels bill (you hear that Honorable Senators of the Philippine Senate???!!!) so as to spur the growth of alternative fuel use and lessen our trade deficit.
Pretty soon if we get our act right, agriculture could be a main contributor to our nations prosperity in terms of as a fuel exporter (biodiesel and ethanol). I am assuming it would take about 5 years from now before we can actually ramp up production.
Source: 2005 Philippine Statistical Yearbook.
[source]