Aquino vows to meet it's goal of making country one of world's largest economies
President Benigno S. Aquino III vowed to continue implementing all-out initiatives and unrelenting efforts to maximize the innate potential of the Filipinos and the country to achieve the government’s goal of making the country one of the largest economies in the world through reforms founded on political will and programs to end corruption.
In his speech during the Philippine Investment Forum at the Rigodon Ballroom of the Peninsula Manila in Makati City on Tuesday, President Aquino said that the government is steadfast in effecting reforms that will expunge hopelessness, negativity, and empower the people by building a proactive society towards a more progressive economy.
“We are proud of the progress we have made, but we are not satisfied with just this. We Filipinos know just how much potential this country has and we are working even longer nights to fulfill this potential… so many people in government continue to work endless nights to make certain that we build on our momentum—that we continue along this path to progress,” the President said.
“We have fought the culture of naysaying and negativity, and have given a sense of empowerment to our people, replacing the hopelessness of the past with a steadfast commitment to building a society that indeed works. We have put an end to business as usual and proclaimed a country open for real business,” the Chief Executive continued.
According to the President, these efforts have led to a considerable progress in the country’s economy that has breached not just 4,000 but the 5,000 barrier as well in the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi).
These accomplishments were noted by various international organizations gaining the country a renewed investor confidence and presenting its merits as a safe and lucrative investment destination.
“In our relatively short time in office, a significant number of respected international organizations have also given us thumbs up signs. The World Economic Forum, for one, bumped the Philippines ten places up—from 85th to 75th—in their latest Competitiveness Index. The Japan External Trade Organization, after conducting a survey among companies in our region, named us the best place to do business in Asia-Oceania, whether in manufacturing or service. HSBC even recently predicted that, by the year 2050, we will be the sixteenth largest economy in the world. And these are only a few of the companies and organizations that have already changed their mind about the Philippines—and have been very vocal about it,” President Aquino said.
“This renewed confidence from the global community has reflected itself in real pesos and centavos invested in the country. Since we took office in July of 2010, we have seen 449.7 billion pesos in investments in the Philippine Economic Zone Authority. This accounts for 22 percent of all investments in PEZA since it was established in 1995—seventeen years ago. Likewise, in 2011, investment promotion agency-approved foreign direct investments grew by 30.6 percent to 256.1 billion pesos—the highest recorded level in sixteen years,” the President stressed.
The Philippines is also performing well in the bond market having issued 1.5 billion dollars in global bonds with a coupon rate of five per cent – the lowest for an Asian sovereign for that tenor and at better rates than several other investment grade sovereigns like Indonesia, Mexico, Brazil, and even some EU countries like Spain.
“All of this is happening amidst global economic uncertainty. If these facts and figures tell us anything, it is that the Philippines’ success has been nothing less than heroic—that we have experienced high after high in our investment story,” the President said.
Among those present during the forum were Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio “Sonny” B. Coloma Jr. and Euromoney Institutional Investor Asia chief executive officer Tony Shale.
The conference dubbed as “The New Beginning” gathered government officials, top Filipino business executives, local and foreign investors to offer a global audience a balanced perspective on the renewed Philippine investment story.
The key topics to be discussed during the two-day event include Capital markets, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Energy and Power, among others. (PCOO)
.
Aquino government lines up eight public-private partnership projects for 2012
The government will roll out this year eight projects under the public-private partnership (PPP) program in a more accelerated pace, President Benigno S. Aquino III said on Tuesday.
Spearheading the Philippine Investment Forum at The Peninsula Manila in Makati City on Tuesday, the President said he has instructed the Cabinet’s economic cluster to speed up the approval of PPP projects so that work could immediately start on the ground.
“There has to be more speed in terms of giving a thumbs up, or a thumbs down to all the various projects that are under consideration. We cannot afford to think of decades upon decades,” the President said during the forum.
“We are missing the opportunities that are already extant," he added.
The country’s PPP thrust is already generating a lot of interest from investors, from building schools, roads, bridges and airports, the President said.
One particular focus is rehabilitation and improvement of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), which now becomes congested as more air traffic is experienced by the country.
“There is a need to really expand our gateways and various studies are underway to determine exactly how best to achieve that,” the Chief Executive said referring to NAIA.
“There are limitations to how much you can expand NAIA especially given the density of the population in the surrounding areas. But that should not stop us from having the facilities available for the tourists.”
There is also a study being done on a proposal to build a nautical highway aimed at cutting down travel time from Luzon to Mindanao, the President said adding that the proponents want to reduce travel time from three days to about 15 hours.
Once this is realized, the President stressed that products coming from the south could easily reach Metro Manila consumers, which, he said, would be a big boost to Mindanao’s agricultural producers.
Last year, the government gave the greenlight for the P1.4-billion four-kilometer Daang Hari-South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) under the PPP projects.
The Aquino administration shortlisted and readied for rollout last year at least 10 projects worth 127.8 billion under the PPP. (PCOO)
.
Aquino stresses government’s commitment to attain inclusive growth for Filipinos
President Benigno S. Aquino III stressed the commitment of the government to attain inclusive growth for the Filipinos by creating more economic opportunities as he bared plans to focus on three specific sectors that will eventually uplift the standards of living of the people.
Speaking before the participants during the Philippine Investment Forum at the Rigodon Ballroom, The Peninsula Manila in Makati City, Tuesday, President Aquino shared the various initiatives of the government focusing on agriculture, infrastructure and tourism that will have a considerable impact en route to the country’s economic stability.
“The plan for this year involves focusing on three specific sectors—sectors that will have the largest impact on our economy, and in the lives of our people—that will create much-needed jobs in the timeliest manner, and namely: agriculture, infrastructure, and tourism,” the President said.
In efforts to increase farmer productivity and the facilitation of trade of their produce, President Aquino revealed a more than fifty per cent increase for the Department of Agriculture’s budget intended for more projects within the sector.
“We have increased the budget of the Department of Agriculture by more than fifty percent to 53.3 billion pesos. The bulk of this money will go to more irrigation projects, more farm-to-market roads, and more buying posts—projects that will move us closer to our goal of reaching rice self-sufficiency in 2013, which we believe to be extremely doable,” the President said.
The Chief Executive expressed confidence that the infrastructure projects of the government will reach a hundred per cent completion in the near future with the concerted efforts of the stakeholders within the sector led by the Department of Public Works and Highways.
He added that such projects include the expansion of the country’s transport system to further open the gates of opportunities for more investments not just in Metro Manila but also in the neighboring provinces and regions.
“I am also happy to report that as of last week, that our administration has approved 133 billion pesos worth of projects for different sectors. Most prominent among them is the LRT Line 1 South Extension Project, worth 61.53 billion pesos. The plan is to extend LRT Line 1 by almost twelve kilometers, from Baclaran, through Paranaque and Las Pinas, to Bacoor, Cavite—and with a little luck, perhaps, points further down. In a little while, we will be able to expand transportation, and open the gates a little wider between Metro Manila’s and not just Cavite but the entire CALABARZON region’s economies,” the President noted.
Apart from these, the Chief Executive also mentioned the recent developments in the tourism sector that has resulted from the painstaking efforts of Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez.
“Thanks to a reenergized Department of Tourism care of Secretary Mon Jimenez—and thanks to an excellent marketing campaign, coupled with a liberalized aviation industry — in January alone, the Philippines welcomed more than 400,000 visitors. This is the highest monthly visitor count in our history. And if we can sustain this, we are set to welcome almost 4.8 million visitors this year. This is really close—or this is very close—to five million. We are still quite away from our target of ten million yearly visitors by 2016, but imagine: two years ago, we were expecting only about three million visitors a year; and now there is the possibility of welcoming five million. We still have four years and three months left to reach our target,” the President said.
“As their government, the people are our ultimate shareholders. And we are bound to work in their interest. This is the driving principle behind all our efforts to be competitive… at the end of the day, we want our economy’s growth to redound to better lives for people. We want to leave no one behind on the straight and narrow path to progress,” he added. (PCOO)
.
Country remains attractive to foreign investors, Aquino says
The Philippines remains globally competitive in attracting foreign investments despite some criticisms, President Benigno S. Aquino III said.
During the Philippine Investment Forum in Makati City on Tuesday, the President said one of his dreams is to get manufacturing back in the country.
While there are some minor investment issues, the Chief Executive said the quality and quantity of the investors coming in remain good.
For instance, the President said, the Philippines is the fourth biggest shipbuilding country in the world and investors in this sector remain bullish and confident and that many of them are bringing in new investments.
At least two major shipbuilding companies are opening up operations in the Philippines, the President noted as he stressed that aside from shipbuilding, a steel making company is also putting up factory in the country.
“There is a steel manufacturing entity that, I think, is coming in to support these two shipbuilding entities and I was surprised with the steel making because we don’t have the comparative advantage in terms of steel manufacturing in this country," he said.
Lastly, President Aquino said that prospects are also bright with the country’s aquaculture sector adding that the country is seeing the development of enough surplus for the sector to support future value adding or processing. (PCOO)
President Benigno S. Aquino III vowed to continue implementing all-out initiatives and unrelenting efforts to maximize the innate potential of the Filipinos and the country to achieve the government’s goal of making the country one of the largest economies in the world through reforms founded on political will and programs to end corruption.
In his speech during the Philippine Investment Forum at the Rigodon Ballroom of the Peninsula Manila in Makati City on Tuesday, President Aquino said that the government is steadfast in effecting reforms that will expunge hopelessness, negativity, and empower the people by building a proactive society towards a more progressive economy.
“We are proud of the progress we have made, but we are not satisfied with just this. We Filipinos know just how much potential this country has and we are working even longer nights to fulfill this potential… so many people in government continue to work endless nights to make certain that we build on our momentum—that we continue along this path to progress,” the President said.
“We have fought the culture of naysaying and negativity, and have given a sense of empowerment to our people, replacing the hopelessness of the past with a steadfast commitment to building a society that indeed works. We have put an end to business as usual and proclaimed a country open for real business,” the Chief Executive continued.
According to the President, these efforts have led to a considerable progress in the country’s economy that has breached not just 4,000 but the 5,000 barrier as well in the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi).
These accomplishments were noted by various international organizations gaining the country a renewed investor confidence and presenting its merits as a safe and lucrative investment destination.
“In our relatively short time in office, a significant number of respected international organizations have also given us thumbs up signs. The World Economic Forum, for one, bumped the Philippines ten places up—from 85th to 75th—in their latest Competitiveness Index. The Japan External Trade Organization, after conducting a survey among companies in our region, named us the best place to do business in Asia-Oceania, whether in manufacturing or service. HSBC even recently predicted that, by the year 2050, we will be the sixteenth largest economy in the world. And these are only a few of the companies and organizations that have already changed their mind about the Philippines—and have been very vocal about it,” President Aquino said.
“This renewed confidence from the global community has reflected itself in real pesos and centavos invested in the country. Since we took office in July of 2010, we have seen 449.7 billion pesos in investments in the Philippine Economic Zone Authority. This accounts for 22 percent of all investments in PEZA since it was established in 1995—seventeen years ago. Likewise, in 2011, investment promotion agency-approved foreign direct investments grew by 30.6 percent to 256.1 billion pesos—the highest recorded level in sixteen years,” the President stressed.
The Philippines is also performing well in the bond market having issued 1.5 billion dollars in global bonds with a coupon rate of five per cent – the lowest for an Asian sovereign for that tenor and at better rates than several other investment grade sovereigns like Indonesia, Mexico, Brazil, and even some EU countries like Spain.
“All of this is happening amidst global economic uncertainty. If these facts and figures tell us anything, it is that the Philippines’ success has been nothing less than heroic—that we have experienced high after high in our investment story,” the President said.
Among those present during the forum were Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio “Sonny” B. Coloma Jr. and Euromoney Institutional Investor Asia chief executive officer Tony Shale.
The conference dubbed as “The New Beginning” gathered government officials, top Filipino business executives, local and foreign investors to offer a global audience a balanced perspective on the renewed Philippine investment story.
The key topics to be discussed during the two-day event include Capital markets, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Energy and Power, among others. (PCOO)
.
Aquino government lines up eight public-private partnership projects for 2012
The government will roll out this year eight projects under the public-private partnership (PPP) program in a more accelerated pace, President Benigno S. Aquino III said on Tuesday.
Spearheading the Philippine Investment Forum at The Peninsula Manila in Makati City on Tuesday, the President said he has instructed the Cabinet’s economic cluster to speed up the approval of PPP projects so that work could immediately start on the ground.
“There has to be more speed in terms of giving a thumbs up, or a thumbs down to all the various projects that are under consideration. We cannot afford to think of decades upon decades,” the President said during the forum.
“We are missing the opportunities that are already extant," he added.
The country’s PPP thrust is already generating a lot of interest from investors, from building schools, roads, bridges and airports, the President said.
One particular focus is rehabilitation and improvement of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), which now becomes congested as more air traffic is experienced by the country.
“There is a need to really expand our gateways and various studies are underway to determine exactly how best to achieve that,” the Chief Executive said referring to NAIA.
“There are limitations to how much you can expand NAIA especially given the density of the population in the surrounding areas. But that should not stop us from having the facilities available for the tourists.”
There is also a study being done on a proposal to build a nautical highway aimed at cutting down travel time from Luzon to Mindanao, the President said adding that the proponents want to reduce travel time from three days to about 15 hours.
Once this is realized, the President stressed that products coming from the south could easily reach Metro Manila consumers, which, he said, would be a big boost to Mindanao’s agricultural producers.
Last year, the government gave the greenlight for the P1.4-billion four-kilometer Daang Hari-South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) under the PPP projects.
The Aquino administration shortlisted and readied for rollout last year at least 10 projects worth 127.8 billion under the PPP. (PCOO)
.
Aquino stresses government’s commitment to attain inclusive growth for Filipinos
President Benigno S. Aquino III stressed the commitment of the government to attain inclusive growth for the Filipinos by creating more economic opportunities as he bared plans to focus on three specific sectors that will eventually uplift the standards of living of the people.
Speaking before the participants during the Philippine Investment Forum at the Rigodon Ballroom, The Peninsula Manila in Makati City, Tuesday, President Aquino shared the various initiatives of the government focusing on agriculture, infrastructure and tourism that will have a considerable impact en route to the country’s economic stability.
“The plan for this year involves focusing on three specific sectors—sectors that will have the largest impact on our economy, and in the lives of our people—that will create much-needed jobs in the timeliest manner, and namely: agriculture, infrastructure, and tourism,” the President said.
In efforts to increase farmer productivity and the facilitation of trade of their produce, President Aquino revealed a more than fifty per cent increase for the Department of Agriculture’s budget intended for more projects within the sector.
“We have increased the budget of the Department of Agriculture by more than fifty percent to 53.3 billion pesos. The bulk of this money will go to more irrigation projects, more farm-to-market roads, and more buying posts—projects that will move us closer to our goal of reaching rice self-sufficiency in 2013, which we believe to be extremely doable,” the President said.
The Chief Executive expressed confidence that the infrastructure projects of the government will reach a hundred per cent completion in the near future with the concerted efforts of the stakeholders within the sector led by the Department of Public Works and Highways.
He added that such projects include the expansion of the country’s transport system to further open the gates of opportunities for more investments not just in Metro Manila but also in the neighboring provinces and regions.
“I am also happy to report that as of last week, that our administration has approved 133 billion pesos worth of projects for different sectors. Most prominent among them is the LRT Line 1 South Extension Project, worth 61.53 billion pesos. The plan is to extend LRT Line 1 by almost twelve kilometers, from Baclaran, through Paranaque and Las Pinas, to Bacoor, Cavite—and with a little luck, perhaps, points further down. In a little while, we will be able to expand transportation, and open the gates a little wider between Metro Manila’s and not just Cavite but the entire CALABARZON region’s economies,” the President noted.
Apart from these, the Chief Executive also mentioned the recent developments in the tourism sector that has resulted from the painstaking efforts of Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez.
“Thanks to a reenergized Department of Tourism care of Secretary Mon Jimenez—and thanks to an excellent marketing campaign, coupled with a liberalized aviation industry — in January alone, the Philippines welcomed more than 400,000 visitors. This is the highest monthly visitor count in our history. And if we can sustain this, we are set to welcome almost 4.8 million visitors this year. This is really close—or this is very close—to five million. We are still quite away from our target of ten million yearly visitors by 2016, but imagine: two years ago, we were expecting only about three million visitors a year; and now there is the possibility of welcoming five million. We still have four years and three months left to reach our target,” the President said.
“As their government, the people are our ultimate shareholders. And we are bound to work in their interest. This is the driving principle behind all our efforts to be competitive… at the end of the day, we want our economy’s growth to redound to better lives for people. We want to leave no one behind on the straight and narrow path to progress,” he added. (PCOO)
.
Country remains attractive to foreign investors, Aquino says
The Philippines remains globally competitive in attracting foreign investments despite some criticisms, President Benigno S. Aquino III said.
During the Philippine Investment Forum in Makati City on Tuesday, the President said one of his dreams is to get manufacturing back in the country.
While there are some minor investment issues, the Chief Executive said the quality and quantity of the investors coming in remain good.
For instance, the President said, the Philippines is the fourth biggest shipbuilding country in the world and investors in this sector remain bullish and confident and that many of them are bringing in new investments.
At least two major shipbuilding companies are opening up operations in the Philippines, the President noted as he stressed that aside from shipbuilding, a steel making company is also putting up factory in the country.
“There is a steel manufacturing entity that, I think, is coming in to support these two shipbuilding entities and I was surprised with the steel making because we don’t have the comparative advantage in terms of steel manufacturing in this country," he said.
Lastly, President Aquino said that prospects are also bright with the country’s aquaculture sector adding that the country is seeing the development of enough surplus for the sector to support future value adding or processing. (PCOO)
