National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Arsenio Balisacan asked Israeli businessmen to invest more in the Philippines which is expected to grow faster than its regional peers.
Balisacan relayed this during a bilateral meeting and business forum with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, Israel Ambassador Ilan Fluss and members of the Israeli business community.
“The economy remains resilient, bouncing back quickly and growing robustly in 2022 with a record 7.6 percent annual growth rate and sustaining the return to the high-growth path in the first quarter of this year with a growth rate of 6.4 percent,” Balisacan said.
He said the momentum remained strong and various multilateral institutions projected that the country would be among emerging Asia’s brightest economies this year, despite the external headwinds of the global economic slowdown.
“We expect to grow faster than many of our peers in the region,” said Balisacan in his welcome remarks.
He said to sustain the Philippine economy’s growth momentum, the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028 contains the strategies, critical priorities and programs aimed at leading the nation towards deep economic and social transformation in the medium term.
The PDP 2023-2028 also includes strategies for improving the overall business climate of the country, such as reforming the country’s investment policies. The proper implementation of these reforms will ensure that the regulatory constraints that hinder the location and expansion of foreign business operations in the Philippines are relaxed.
He said the reforms would also address investor concerns, particularly by ensuring that public policies and regulations are more transparent and efficient.
“I note that the Philippine economy has never been more open and ready for business. The continued investment policy reform momentum, including efforts to improve the ease of doing business through digitalization, shall ensure that the country remains competitive and dynamic,” he said.
He invited Israeli businessmen to consider investing in the country, particularly in the fields of energy, water, logistics, transportation, agribusiness, manufacturing, tourism, health, education and digital connectivity.
He cited the potential market of about 110 million consumers in the country and its young and skilled workforce that is growing at a faster rate than the overall population.
This large market is expanded even further by the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership which extends the country’s market access to approximately 680 million more people from the agreement’s trading partners.
The Israel-Philippines Business Forum convened representatives from the Filipino and Israeli business communities with the aim of fostering discussions on investment opportunities in the Philippines, particularly in the sectors of agritech, water and cybersecurity.