Program to promote investments in industry gets funds

The government has allotted some P2.3 billion to implement starting this year a new program meant to further boost the investments in the Philippine manufacturing sector.

The funding, according to Trade Undersecretary Adrian S. Cristobal Jr., will be spread out across several agencies—the Departments of Trade and Industry, Energy, Science and Technology, and Labor and Employment, as well as the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda)— which will implement various projects under the “Manufacturing Resurgence Program.”

The amount earmarked was based on based on the government’s manufacturing roadmap which was finalized last year and was adopted and budgeted for this year, Cristobal said.

“For the DTI, we have some funds for the revival of the Industry Development Council. This will be the official body in terms of policy making,” he said.

“We also have the Shared Service Facility program, under which we will be designing some projects geared toward the manufacturing sector. But we will have a separate budget for this,” he added.

Some of these proposed SSF projects, he added, were expected to provide significant support to boost the competitiveness of local manufacturers.

As the lead agency for the Manufacturing Resurgence Program, the DTI will also coordinate the different interventions to be implemented by the different agencies. The program was based on the various sectoral roadmaps, which served as the building blocks for the manufacturing roadmap and the Comprehensive National Industrial Strategy (CNIS), a blueprint for the overall industrial development strategy of the country.

Late last year, the Joint Foreign Chambers and local business groups sought for increased government support in reviving the labor-intensive industries and in expanding the high-value added manufacturing sectors. This, the business groups said, would accelerate and sustain economic growth and reduce the unemployment rates in the country. Amy R. Remo