Arroyo government presents RP as 'next success story of Asia'

The first day of the 4th ASEAN Business and Investment Summit at the Waterfront Hotel-Cebu City yesterday was heralded with President Gloria Arroyo's administration touting the Philippines as the "next success story of Asia."

Cabinet Secretary Ricardo Saludo, in his presentation entitled "Building a New Philippines", said the country will have a different kind of economic success story than other countries in Southeast Asia.

Saludo came up with a detailed presentation of accomplishments of the Arroyo administration, emphasizing the country's stable economy and its destination over the next few years.

The Philippines presently has one of the fastest economic growths, which is moving to a higher level of economic achievement, Saludo said citing a report from the World Bank that predicts the country may "take off" by 2010.

Saludo said that, under the new Philippines, there would be a stable, responsive, fiscally sound and democratic government, and a competitive, dynamic and equitable 21st century economy.

"Asia's renaissance offers opportunities to achieve dynamic development and rapid fall in poverty, now below 10 percent for the first time, by World Bank's standard of $1 per day," Saludo said.

There may be few structural impediments but there are many good policies in place also that need to be carried out coherently and consistently, he told the business summit participants.

Saludo said the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, in a 2006 forecast, have raised the Philippines' gross domestic product growth from 5.4 percent to 5.5 percent but the Philippine government has been expecting even up to 5.6 percent.

Enhancing also the double-digit growths in exports, remittances of overseas Filipino workers, and tourism are the rising farm output against the fall of oil prices and inflation rate, said Saludo.

Saludo admitted however that the Philippines has to do more than these to become the next success story of Asia, one of which is to raise the average economic growth rate from the current three percent to as high as eight percent.

The country now has lesser debt but more services so that a balanced budget is expected in 2008, he said while presenting Arroyo's "super regions" project.

Trade and Industry Secretary Peter Favila meanwhile urged the private sector, in all countries in Southeast Asia, to work with the government to achieve the economic integration that the ASEAN had envisioned so far.

Most of the discussions in the ASEAN-BIS zeroed in on the economic integration among 10 ASEAN members, and with their dialog partners-Japan, China and New Zealand.

Favila said that while creating a single ASEAN may be difficult to achieve, the important thing is the ASEAN countries are united in their desire to attain such end. - Wenna A. Berondo