‘Turn high growth into inclusive growth’

MANILA, Philippines - Amid recent positive economic gains in the Philippines, a ranking official of the World Bank yesterday said the next step is to turn economic growth into inclusive growth.

Axel van Trotsenburg, the World Bank’s vice president for East Asia and the Pacific, met with President Aquino and his economic team and congratulated the government for sound macroeconomic management.

“Turning high growth into inclusive growth is increasingly important for the Philippines, by deepening and accelerating reforms that will create more and better jobs to reduce poverty,” Van Trotsenburg said as he assured the country of the World Bank’s continuing support.

“There is clear convergence between the Philippine government’s goal of inclusive growth and the World Bank Group’s twin goals to end extreme global poverty by 2030 and promote shared prosperity for the bottom 40 percent of the population in each country,” he said.

Van Trotsenburg also announced that the World Bank released a $300-million development policy loan to the Philippines to support critical reforms for accelerating growth directly related to job creation and poverty reduction.

The World Bank expressed support for the government’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) program, and at the same time, said it will tap or entice foreign investments to Philippine development projects and programs through its private investment arm, the International Finance Corp. (IFC).

Meanwhile, in a press briefing yesterday, Van Trotsenburg said the World Bank Group has scaled up its support for economic development in fragile and conflict-affected areas around the world.

He said that the World Bank does not get involved in political issues such as peace talks, but stressed that countries entering into a peaceful state invite further opportunities.

Van Trotsenburg visited poor communities in Metro Manila as well as in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), to underscore the bank’s commitment to support long-lasting peace and broad-based development in the Philippines.

“There will be a lot of assistance after a peace agreement has been signed,” he added.

Aside from the peace process, the focus in Mindanao is rooted on increasing the development of the agriculture and agribusiness sector, from grains to palm oil, banana and pineapple, and other high-valued crops with huge export potentials.

“We are willing to provide additional support through loans and technical assistance grants, with the cooperation of the local government units (LGUs), the national government agencies, and other entities,” Van Trotsenburg said.

He said the World Bank will continue to get involved in huge loans focused on infrastructure projects with the help of domestic or foreign private partners.

“The World Bank side will be complemented by the efforts of the IFC to get the private sector side of the various programs and projects,” he said.

Van Trotsenburg said during his meeting with Aquino, they “saw a different convergence, a convergence of poor communities, governments, private sector and multilateral agencies.”

In fact, the next three-year strategy of the World Bank in the Philippines is being aligned with the revised 2011-2016 Philippine Development Plan (PDP).

“Preparing for the three-year strategy will likewise entail a series of country consultations with the various stakeholders of each country to ensure soundness and relevance of the Country Partnership Strategy (CPS),” he said.

Meanwhile, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima yesterday cited the World Bank’s help in promoting growth.

“The World Bank Group has been a crucial partner for us in promoting growth that is both empowered and empowering. Projects such as the CCT program as well as their contributions to our infrastructure plan bode well for inclusive growth and a more dynamic business environment,” Purisima said.