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Official Publication of the Philippine Information Agency Bicol Regional Office, in cooperation with the RIAC-REDIRAS - RDC Bicol



Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Good governance promotes economic growth - Salceda

LEGAZPI CITY, June 11 (PIA) -- A local official said the administration of President Benigno S. Aquino III has clearly gained the trust of investors as it continually improves.

Citing a study on Asian countries by economist Emmanuel de Dios, Albay Governor and Bicol Regional Development Council (RDC) chair Jose “Joey” Salceda said, "Our Asian neighbors are posting 6 to 8 percent increase in gross domestic product (GDP) and the Philippines is among the leading nations with 7.8 percent GDP increase and this may even reach 8 percent."

“If the private sector trusts the Presidency, they themselves will initiate actions for economic growth,” he said.

He further cited a newspaper article revealing that infrastructure investments in the country are expected to reach $110B in the next seven years.

“What drive our economy today are investments particularly on the aspect of infrastructure,” Salceda said.

With the positive perception that the present administration is receiving from both domestic and international investors, fresh and larger investments are consistently in the uptrend. “Investors clearly trust the presidency that projects the image of anti-corruption manifested by bigger stakes they put in now,” Salceda said.

According to Salceda, the upscale industries today are food manufacturing and tourism, adding that BPO (business process outsourcing) industry is still there but experiencing a slowdown. Mining and agriculture industries are also having a downtrend, he added.

Salceda noted that investments rose by 31 percent this year.

“The reason for the growth in food manufacturing is import substitution, meaning, we produce locally the products what we use to import,” Salceda said. The local production directly competes with imported goods, he added.

“Tourism is also upbeat with infrastructure investments, and is one of the top revenue earning industry not only in Bicol but in the entire country," he said.

Recently, Salceda spearheaded the strategic creation of ALMASORCA, acronym for the provinces of Albay-Masbate-Sorsogon and the recently included Catanduanes for comprehensive partnerships of the said provinces for tourism development.

“But the real challenge now is how to bring this economic gains down to the grassroots to reduce poverty incidence,” Salceda said.

Most of infrastructure investments are still concentrated in the urban areas particularly Metro Manila, Salceda observed.

Salceda said that the regions must participate in the economic initiatives. “We need to have P320 billion worth of infra investments for Bicol,” he added.

President Benigno Aquino III’s highly effective campaign slogan of “kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap" (there is no poverty if there is no corruption) is only a half-way solution to poverty incidence, Salceda said.

“Yes, good governance really encourages economic growth but it does not necessarily reduce poverty since income inequality is still increasing,” Salceda said. “We need new set of ‘tools’ to address poverty,” he said. (MAL/JJJP/PIA5-Albay)

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