Private sector backs Pascual confirmation at DTI

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s leading business organizations are supporting the confirmation of Alfredo Pascual as secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

 In a joint statement, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) president George Barcelon, Employers Confederation of the Philippines president Edgardo Lacson and Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. president Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr. supported the confirmation of Pascual to lead the DTI.

The business leaders said the DTI needs a capable leader as the Philippine economy gears up to rebound from the pandemic and to a more volatile situation brought about by geopolitical tensions, changing trade and investment patterns, and the advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

“Cognizant of all these challenges, we have expressed our support early in this administration for the President’s appointment of Secretary Pascual to DTI. His appointment to the job has received a resounding cheer from the country’s business and scientific community. We continue to believe that his well-known visionary leadership, outstanding credentials, and solid experience in the fields of education, business and finance make him the best person to steer DTI toward being a major catalyst of job creation, economic transformation and post-pandemic growth,” the groups said.

Pascual has been leaning on an industrial policy of harnessing innovation and digital transformation toward changing the Philippine industrial landscape, combining inclusivity, dynamism and competitiveness.

The groups said they are also supportive of Pascual’s goal of upsizing the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), promoting regional industrialization, enhancing ease of doing business, addressing skills mismatch, attracting investments, expanding exports and enhancing consumer protection as these are the ways to enhance Philippine industries and accelerate the country’s post-pandemic economic growth.

The Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) said Pascual also has the expertise to implement the DTI’s mandate to fulfill the country’s goal of becoming a globally competitive “innovative” industry and services sector to generate inclusive growth and employment.

“We believe that with his extensive experience and expertise, he will be able to professionally and competently pursue the DTI’s mandate of realizing the country’s goal of globally competitive and innovative industry and services sector that contribute to inclusive growth and employment generation,” MAP president Rogelio Singson said.

Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc. (FFCCCII) president Henry Lim Bong Liong said Pascual has the “exemplary intellectual, professional, business and moral qualifications to lead the DTI in supporting globally-competitive, innovative, sustainable and inclusive Philippine economic growth.”

Meanwhile, the DTI-Employees Union and the Board of Investments Employees Association also threw their support to Pascual.

“In his five-month stewardship of the DTI, he has provided the strong and steady hand in steering the DTI from its traditional ways of working into one marked by more strategic, more responsive and technology-driven initiatives. He has shown objectivity, dedication, competence, independence and integrity, which are critical elements of an effectively functioning government office mandated to realize the country’s goal of a globally competitive and innovative industry and services sector that contribute to inclusive growth and employment generation,” said DTI-EU national president Noel Guillermo Zapata.

Other groups that supported Pascual’s appointment at the DTI are the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines, PCCI Catanduanes, Albay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, The Philippine Exporters Confederation (Region XI Chapter) Inc., PhilExport Aklan Chapter Inc., Philippine Exporters Foundation Region 3, American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation, United Coconut Associations of the Philippines, Philippine Oleochemical Manufacturers Association, International Council for Small Business Philippines, Association of Petrochemical Manufacturers of the Philippines, Packaging Institute of the Philippines, Samahan sa Pilipinas ng mga Industriyang Kimika, Philippine Plastic Industry Association, Philippine Association of Paint Manufacturers, Philippine Society for Quality, Philippine Quality Award Foundation, Association of Samar Producers, Samar Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Basey Association for Native Industry Growth, Calbayog Chamber of Commerce and Industry, The Philippine Center for Islam and Democracy and the Stratbase Group.