Business sector proposes action plan for Philippines competitiveness

MANILA, Philippines - The business community has recommended to the national government five actionable plans aimed to strengthen the Philippines’ competitiveness in Southeast Asia and to improve ease of doing business in the country.

In a press conference, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said the private sector has come up with a new set of policy recommendations for action by the national government.

These include driving the Philippines’ competitiveness against its Southeast Asian neighbors; improving ease of doing business through the convergence of different agencies and the local government units; completing the Circumferential Road 6, traversing FTI in Taguig City to Batasan complex in Quezon City to address traffic woes in Metro Manila; allowing new players in the telecommunications industry; and improving support infrastructure and services to the agricultural sector.

“I think the business group is looking to be very competitive in the ASEAN, to take advantage of our resources and are looking to closer coordination and cooperation with the government so that our country can move as one competitive unit, as the Philippines Inc., both the government and private sector,” Dominguez said.

He also said the private sector agreed on another set of actionable recommendations aimed at improving the government’s social services.

These points include expanding public access to health care; addressing jobs mismatch through job profiling in coordination with academe; improving land tenure security; speeding up the resolution of conflict in Marawi City; and providing entrepreneurial training to agricultural workers.

The finance chief also assured the business groups that government will look into the policies that can help in the successful implementation of these plans.

“On our part, we will study closely the suggestions and see what specific policy actions might be taken,” he said.

In the area of telecommunications, Dominguez gave assurance that Information and Communications Technology Secretary Rodolfo Salalima is already looking into ways to improve services and to lower costs through tighter competition.

“Secretary Salalima said earlier we are moving toward more competition, better services and lower cost for the telecommunications industry, which includes handheld devices, WiFi, etc.,” he said.

According to Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry president George Barcelon, the business community is essentially calling for a change in the model of the information and communications technology sector in the country.