The National Economic and Development Authority board headed by President Rodrigo Duterte approved Tuesday a six-year economic blueprint which aims to make the Philippines an upper-middle income country by 2022.
Neda said in a statement its board officially approved the Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022 at Malacañang Palace. PDP is the first medium-term plan to be anchored on a national long-term vision, or AmBisyon Natin 2040, which represents the collective vision and aspirations of Filipinos for themselves and for the country.
“We want the Philippines to be an upper-middle income country by 2022. With the right policies and with mutual trust between government and the citizenry, this is very possible,” Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said.
“By the end of 2022, Filipinos will be closer to achieving their long-term aspirations. Through this PDP, the current administration will lay a solid foundation for inclusive growth, a high-trust society, and a globally-competitive knowledge economy by grounding its development thrusts on Malasakit, Pagbabago, and Patuloy na Pag-unlad,” Pernia said during his presentation at the Neda board meeting.
The plan contains seven main parts, which include an overview of the economy, development challenges that lie ahead, and development strategies thoroughly articulated through chapters on Enhancing the Social Fabric, Inequality-Reducing Transformation, Increasing Growth Potential, Enabling and Supportive Economic Environment and Foundations for Inclusive and Sustainable Development.
Under the plan, the government aims to boost gross domestic product growth to a range of 7 percent to 8 percent in the medium term. Growth is also expected to be more inclusive, where overall poverty rate is targeted to decline from 21.6 percent to 14 percent, and poverty incidence in rural areas to decrease from 30 percent in 2015 to 20 percent in 2022.
The government also wants to reduce unemployment rate from the current 5.5 percent to 3 percent to 5 percent by 2022. Included among the targets are higher trust in government and society, more resilient individuals and communities and a greater drive for innovation.
The PDP 2017-2022 espouses a National Spatial Strategy, recognizing that population, geography and cities are engines of economic growth.
The NSS was adopted to identify specific strategies and policies in order to decongest Metro Manila, connect rural areas to key growth areas, and to improve linkages between settlements for higher resilience against natural disasters.
It also gives special attention to overseas Filipino workers and their families. It identifies strategies and policies to protect the rights of overseas Filipinos, improve their quality of life and integrate them into the country’s development.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said that “the Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022 is ‘close to a masterpiece,’ and is unlike any other medium-term development plan I have read.”
Neda said it would draft an executive order that mandates all government agencies to align respective programs, projects and activities with the Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022.