‘Private-sector innovation key to 1st World goal’ | Cai Ordinario

IF the Philippines were to become a first-world country in a generation, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said efforts to innovate starting from the private sector will be a crucial step.

At the inaugural meeting of the Finance Executive Institute of the Philippines on Tuesday, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said the country can become an upper middle income country in the next two years.

But this progress must be sustained if the country is to become a first world nation in a generation’s time. He said innovation, which will increase the country’s productivity, will be a must.

“In the next two years the Philippines will likely enter the upper middle income country studies, which is a level of development that can only be sustained and bring us to a high income level in the next generation if we innovate. If we are to simply copy or assemble products or two things similarly without any innovation, then we will hardly grow and become a high-income country,” Chua said.

This, he said, will require the help of the private sector and focus of the current and next administration. Chua said the private sector and the government should work together to enhance human capital development by improving health and education outcomes.

He stressed the need to improve logistics as well as the way products are manufactured through better factory settings and business processes. Chua said all parties must also pursue good governance.

“The key to sustaining our growth and becoming a high-income country in the next generation is to increase productivity and this is a big role for the private sector,” Chua said.

These efforts should be the focus of the country along with addressing the pandemic and making sure the economy recovers as well as addressing climate change.

Chua said climate change is “inevitable” and the country must prepare for stronger flooding or typhoons in the future. He said this is behind the government’s current efforts to place climate change adaptation and mitigation as the cornerstone of the country’s policy framework.

“We hope we can work together in the coming months and that the next administration will continue. The first is continuing our coverage from the Covid-19 pandemic or should I say endemic, the second is increase productivity, and the third is to respond to climate change,” Chua said.