NEDA pushes for rural sector development in MTPDP

MANILA, Philippines - The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) is pushing for the development of the rural sector through a new Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP).

NEDA director-general Rolando Tungpalan hopes that the next MTPDP would sharpen its focus on addressing the concerns of the sector.

 “We must adopt strategies that would boost the rural sector, so that economic development would reach the rural areas,” Tungpalan said during a recent Workshop on Common Rural Development Sector Outcome and Assessment on Managing for Development Results (MfDR).

The workshop-assessment was aimed at harmonizing the frameworks of the Departments of Agriculture (DA), Agrarian Reform (DAR) and Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

NEDA is currently working on the MTPDP for 2011 to 2017. The MTPDP is the government’s economic blueprint which identifies growth sectors for the next six years.

Tungpalan said that the outputs of the workshop-assessment would be useful in the preparation of the next MTPDP, which outlines the economic and development priorities of the administration for the next six years.

 “Right now, NEDA is already gearing up for the MTPDP 2011-2017. The current MTPDP, which has 25 chapters, contains very broad and comprehensive strategies. We hope to sharpen the focus of each program, activity or project in the next MTPDP, particularly in the rural development sector,” said Tungpalan, who is also co-chair of the Philippine Harmonization Committee.

The Philippine Harmonization Committee, chaired by the Department of Finance (DOF), is an inter-agency group that coordinates and monitors the government and donors’ commitments in the 2005 Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. The said declaration is an international agreement for developing countries to exercise effective leadership over their development policies for more harmonized, transparent and effective actions.

Tungpalan added that a more manageable and focused set of rural development outcomes is needed to link the MTPDP and the budget process. Tungpalan cited the forthcoming 2011 budget call as an opportunity to make such fit.

 “These outcomes will come from agency outputs which are tangible and measurable. The link to outcomes is a NEDA concern and we hope to develop a method that would assess how the agencies’ programs contribute to development outcomes,” he said.