Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual forecasts a healthier economy in 2024 amid the government efforts to remedy domestic issues despite the global headwinds.
“The forecast is that the Philippine economy will grow better [in 2024] than this year, and even faster than our neighbors in the ASEAN,” he said Wednesday.
Pascual said the proposed revision of economic provisions in the 1987 constitution would help magnify investors’ trust in the local business environment.
He said the country should continue to welcome foreign direct investments (FDI) to generate more employment for Filipinos.
He said the recent presidential visit to Japan would not only add new capital investments in major economic sectors, “but all of these will translate for decent jobs for Filipinos.”
Philippine Export Confederation of the Philippines (PhilExport) president Sergio-Ortiz Luis said employment in the country continued to improve with more and new investments coming in.
“The challenge now is how to get the informal sector in the fold. There is a huge number of people who are doing odd jobs, part time jobs and those that are in the grassroots. It is our goal to give them regular employment,” he said.
PhilExport, together with the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Employment Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP), are reviving the 1 million job initiative under Project Jobs.
“This time, we are targeting more than 1 million jobs. We have initially set forth the program to produce a million jobs in 2021, but we failed to do so. Finally, we met the target in March 2022,” Ortiz-Luis said.
He said the business groups are working with the SM Group to help open up a million jobs and help the part timers and those who are in the informal sector land full-time jobs.
Project Jobs will also rekindle synergies with the mining companies and the electronics groups to contribute to the initiative.