The National Economic and Development Authority assured Canadian investors that the Philippine government is committed to sustaining transformative economic growth.
This commitment aims to continually improve the investment climate in the Philippines and create more opportunities for businesses from investors worldwide, according to NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan.
Balisacan provided insights into the economic prospects in the Philippines and apprised Canadian investors of the significant economic policies and strategies currently being implemented by the Philippine government during the Philippine Economic Briefing in Toronto.
“This year, we expect to grow by 6 to 7 percent despite the external headwinds. We aim for 6.5 to 8 percent per year in the longer term. With that kind of growth, we should be able to transform the economy dramatically and reduce poverty substantially. We have been implementing many structural and policy reforms to achieve this objective,” said Balisacan during the open forum segment of the PEB.
The government’s chief economic planner said massive infrastructure development is key to enhancing the potential growth of the Philippine economy’s growth potential. He also underscored the importance of strengthening upskilling initiatives and human capital development institutions—such as schools—to meet the skill requirements of emerging markets and technologies to achieve this goal.
Balisacan underscored the need to diversify the economy. “For many years, the economy has depended on domestic consumption growth… but to sustain its rapid transformation, we need to go beyond that,” he said.
He elaborated on the need to identify new drivers of economic growth in various sectors such as tourism, creative industries and agribusiness to expand and diversify the country’s economy and make it more resilient to shocks.
