Jimenez: Faith, not miracle, spurs PH growth

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – There is no miracle, just restored faith in the government.

Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr. said this during the World Economic Forum (WEF) plenary session Thursday on the Philippines as “The Next Asian Miracle.”

“Miracle tends to imply something that happened that is unexplained. People refer to it as the Philippine miracle only because something happened when they weren’t looking,” Jimenez said during the forum.

“The logical explanation is there was a restoration of faith in the leadership, consequently there follows a restoration of faith in the system, and what we are seeing today is a restoration of faith in the future,” he said.

Guillermo Luz, Private Sector Co-Chairman of the National Competitiveness Council, also said that the use of the word “miracle” somewhat “downgrades the effort and hard work that people have put in it.”

The private sector and the public sector has been working hard in streamlining government processes to improve the ease of doing business in the country.

Sustained growth

The Philippine economy needs to sustain a growth of at least six percent for 10 years in order to create a lasting impact, Manny V. Pangilinan, chairman of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) said during the forum.

“Theres no reason why the Philippines cannot sustain growth levels like the past three to four years. To really drive the economy on a sustained basis, growth must go by a minimum of six percent for about 10 years,” he said.

Pangilinan said that some of the concerns for the sustainable growth are still in the areas of infrastructure, power, agriculture and inequality in incomes.

Growth Inclusion

Cherrie Atilano, Co-Founder, President and Social Entrepreneur of Gawad Kalinga Enchanted Farm, however said that the economic growth is not being felt in the level of the farmers.

“We cannot really feel it especially from the farmers level, its so hard to feel how 7.2 percent is streaming to the grassroots,” Atilano said.

She however expressed optimism saying that a lot more of the youth are going into social entrepreneurship and they are “getting more proactive and innovative … but most of the time they are not part of the growth inclusion.”

Jimenez said that Filipinos however have become really the best form of investment in the world.

“The Filipino workforce is probably the most direct form of investment in the world. We are the most successful foreign direct investment in people for the business process outsourcing industry, medical care industry, maritime industry, hospitality industry, and also many other industries,” he said.

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