Since when has the country’s largest business group gone into forecasting and predicting the future by telling us that the Philippines would be a first world economy by 2050?
With a chaotic world that we are now in – economically and geopolitically – considering the destructive conflicts in Israel, the two- year old war by Russia in Ukraine, the continuing political uncertainty in Southeast Asia and the Africas. How sure are we that the world would even surpass these episodes with nary a dent on their economies? And we also have to hurdle the intensifying tension with China over the West Philippine Sea.
This business of projecting – which I have always chided the National Economic and Development Authority and the Department of Finance for predicting that we would soon be a middle income economy – had been bereft of ground realities.
Have they even looked at the poverty, the instability of our education and political systems, the unchecked population explosion and shrinking resources – most of which are held by a few rich people to even consider us "graduating" from poor to rich (middle income or first class) economy?
Business Leaders
Definitely, all those who are giving rosy picture of our economy are themselves enjoying the wealth of our country and are shielded from touching base with the downtrodden and the poorest of the poor. They have people to mingle with these kinds, not them, so what they mouth are simple imaginations of the reality that they want to wallow in.
These rich businessmen are enjoying big profits, which they would not share with their employees through higher pay, because they don’t want their fat bank accounts to shrink. And are they really paying the right amount of taxes and tariffs for every item that they import as capital goods?
The business leaders could occasionally show acts of charity – with wide media coverage – to give an impression that they have a heart for the poor and that they are compassionate human beings.
Ambitious but Achievable
Reading the story of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry envisioning a Philippines as first world economy by 2050 made me almost fall from my chair because even though 2050 is still 24 years away, still no one is sure the world will still be functioning by then considering how rapidly we, humans, have been destroying our planet in unimaginable proportions.
PCCI’s utterances are at best, wishful thinking and so far remote from reality as they are delusional.
Visionary world-renowned Urban Planner and Architect Felino Palafox Jr., chair of the 49th Philippine Business Conference and Expo had said the 2050 goal of becoming a top 20 economy is “ambitious but achievable" if present challenges are addressed effectively. PCCI’s conference on October 25 and 26 gathered over a thousand local and international delegates in its conference held at the Manila Hotel.
Palafox said achieving this vision entails immediate, short-, medium-, long-term and visionary goals, plans, and programs that address barriers to growth and sustain the development of the sectors, where the country has a competitive edge.
Palafox, who helped craft the Philippine Development Plan (2023-2028), says the initial step is to ensure the effective implementation of the five-year PDP as the country is in a strategic location, natural resources and human capital resources (demographic sweet spot), to name a few, are among the many advantages that will make the country a first world economy by 2050.
"Leading the country to global excellence can be made possible through the effective implementation of plans and benchmarking on the best practices around the globe to improve the country's plans and designs," Palafox says.
Strategic Alignment
PCCI President George Barcelon cited the importance of strong collaboration between government, private sector and civil society in achieving Vision 2050.
Barcelon says: "Although the path ahead may be difficult, the Philippines must aim to rank among the top 20 economies in the world by 2050 with efficient, effective, visionary and action-driven leadership.
The Philippines has the capacity to rise to the level of a first world nation and forge a bright future for both its people and the rest of the globe with tenacity and strategic alignment.
The chamber named some major industries that are ideal and attractive for local and foreign investments and can amplify the economic growth and competitiveness of the country.
These sectors include agribusiness, information technology business process outsourcing or IT-BPO, creative industries, manufacturing, mining and mineral resources, and tourism.
Lagging Behind
Barcelon says: "Some of our neighboring countries in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) have really moved fast over the past 10 years. We had been lagging in exports, investments and trade, and we could not afford to be in this situation; so, we really need to review our policies for us to be attractive to local and foreign investors."
He says tourism and agribusiness are low-hanging fruits that the government should seriously prioritize and develop as they provide many opportunities for Filipinos. In 2022, the tourism and travel industry only contributed 6.2 percent to the country's gross domestic product (GDP), lower than 12.7 percent in 2019 prior to the pandemic.
Philippine agribusiness chipped in only 8.9 percent to GDP in 2022, when its potential contribution could be 35 percent.
Mining and mineral sector boosted the country's growth by P102 billion in 2020 during the pandemic while the manufacturing sector contributed 17.2 percent in 2022.
Barcelon concludes: "As the private sector takes the lead in mapping out plans for Vision 2050, we hope our government will focus its attention on harnessing these sectors and address the challenges that hinder the country's economic growth. We have the competitive advantage to become a first world economy by 2050, we just have to do extra work to achieve it."
For several years, PCCI has been lamenting about the lack of continuity, consistency in policies and the will to move the country forward faster.
Let’s see if things would change substantially now.
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