Gov’t aims to sustain growth of local construction sector

The Department of Trade and Industry and the Board of Investments are pushing for an integrated approach in securing and sustaining the robust growth being enjoyed by the local construction sector and other related industries.

Trade Undersecretary Adrian S. Cristobal Jr. said in a statement that the approach must be put in place to “enhance the capacities of both the construction sector and its key support industries and to harness their full potential.”

The DTI and BOI are hoping to achieve this through the issuance of roadmaps, which will contain recommendations, targets and plans of action for particular sectors over a certain period. Officials said that the roadmaps, particularly those for related industries, should be harmonized to ensure sustained growth.

Recently, the DTI and BOI held the third of a series of Trade and Industry Development (TID) updates, which featured roadmaps for construction-related industries such as iron and steel, as well as housing and cement.

Various stakeholders from the foreign and local chambers, diplomatic corps, industry associations, development institutions, the academe, media, and other key players from the public and private sectors gather during the TID Updates to discuss how to build and enhance the competitiveness of Philippine industries.

Based on the sectoral income accounts of the National Statistical Coordination Board, the basic metal industries in which iron and steel sector is a main component, posted gross value added (GVA) output to GDP of  P6.3 billion in the second quarter of 2013—up 116.3 percent from that of last year.