“The growth of manufacturing would be boosted by the deliberate promotion and strengthening of small and medium enterprises.”
The impressive growth of the Philippine economy recently being experienced – up 6.4 and 7.1 per cent on the second and third quarters of the year, respectively – should translate into more jobs and better lives for the greater majority.
Cielito Habito, Philippine Daily Inquirer columnist and former NEDA Secretary-General, said that growth is not all that matters.
Citing employment statistics, he said that in a year, the economy managed to create half a million new jobs, a gain negated by the loss of close to the same number of jobs in agriculture (493,000). He also noted that the rate of underemployment jumped from 19.1 per cent last year to 22.7 per cent this year.
The challenge, Habito said, is to push into full gear the sectors that would contribute the most to job generation and consequently to inclusive growth: tourism, agriculture and manufacturing.
“All three sectors remain far from achieving their full potentials which a combination of appropriate and strategic policy reforms, institutional improvements, and public investments could unleash.”
The advantage in tourism, agriculture and manufacturing, he explains, “lies in being able to employ more workers with relatively less training and education than in most other sectors and industries in the economy.”
In agriculture and agribusiness, further growth would entail fundamental institutional and policy reforms.
The growth of manufacturing, he concludes, would be boosted by the deliberate promotion and strengthening of small and medium enterprises.
Photo: from apn.new.com
