Manufacturing to hasten poverty alleviation, says PIDS

Boosting the labor-intensive manufacturing sector could hasten poverty alleviation and help achieve inclusive growth in the country, the top official of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) said Monday.

According to PIDS president Josef Yap, the manufacturing sector creates more jobs for less-educated persons, who are found to have higher poverty incidence levels.

“A more dynamic manufacturing sector in the Philippines would have provided more higher-paying jobs to the less-educated workforce, thereby making poverty reduction faster,” Yap said during the launch of the 10th Development Policy Research Month.

The government is facing the challenge of attaining inclusive growth that generates massive employment and significantly reduces poverty.

Other reasons for non-inclusiveness and poverty include poor infrastructure, inequitable access to health and education, lagging performance of small and medium enterprises and weak institutions, Yap added.

The manufacturing sector has not benefited from intra-regional trade because the country is stuck in low-value added industries such as semiconductors and assembly-type activities, said Rafaelita Aldaba of PIDS.

However, she is optimistic that the country’s manufacturing sector can be revitalized, given its potential and the current macroeconomic stability which was lacking in the past.

She said the think tank is crafting an integrated manufacturing road map that will identify barriers and measures to develop local industries.