Duterte urged to pursue liberalization

The lifting of foreign equity restrictions and the ramping up of infrastructure spending topped the eight-point economic agenda drafted by a ranking official of a leading local real estate services firm.

Antton Nordberg, head of research at KMC MAG Group, offered his own eight-point economic agenda to incoming President Rodrigo Duterte, as he noted that some issues so far raised by the tough-talking mayor from Davao were not “urgent” or “necessary.”

“Duterte is promoting something not so urgent such as reducing crime, which is important, but not necessarily No. 1 and his attitude towards this has been aggressive,” Nordberg said Tuesday in a forum hosted by the Nordic Business Council Philippines (NBCP).

Stressing that new policies will dictate long-term growth prospects, Nordberg also included in his list education; actions to secure the competitiveness of the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry such as setting up necessary telecommunication infrastructure, ensuring sufficient levels of labor and providing incentives and government subsidies; sustaining the current economic conditions of high employment, stable inflation and healthy external balance sheet; continued fight against corruption; and sustainable growth of the renewable energy industry.

Duterte earlier released his eight point economic agenda that included continuing current macroeconomic policies; accelerating infrastructure spending; ensuring attractiveness of the Philippines to foreign direct investments; pursuing a genuine agricultural development strategy; and improving land administration and management system.

Duterte’s economic priorities also included the strengthening of the basic education system; improvement of the taxation system; and expansion of the conditional cash transfer program.