Economy seen growing by 10 percent in ten years

The Philippine economy can possibly grow by 7 percent to 10 percent in the next 10 years, a leading economist said in a forum on Wednesday.

In his speech during the Asia CEO Forum held at the The Peninisula Manila Hotel in Makati City, Dr. Bernardo Villegas said that the Philippine economy is reaching its tipping point because of over 25 years of slow and painful reforms.

According to Villegas, economic reforms were started during the administration of the late President Corazon “Cory” Aquino, the mother of incumbent President Benigno Aquino 3rd.

He said that it was during the time of Mrs. Aquino that various reforms in the Philippine banking system were initiated.

In addressing the problems on energy, he added that former President Fidel Ramos started the privatization of the energy sector.

“[Now] there is so much interest in the energy sector in the Philippines,” Villegas said.

He also mentioned that it was during the administration of former President Joseph Estrada that a 180-degree shift was made from industrialization to building farm to market roads, while former President Gloria Arroyo focused on infrastructure development.

Going to the present administration of President Benigno, Villegas said that the incumbent is building very aggressively with the foundations from the past administrations by its fight against corruption.

Furthermore, the economist elaborated the positive trends in the Philippines that will help to boost the economy such as stable democracy; strong macroeconomic fundamentals; labor peace; an educated, young and English-speaking labor force; strategic geographic location; and one of the best performing stock markets in the world. Another trend is the high rate of savings because of remittances from overseas Filipinos which contributes about 12 percent to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country.

Villegas also said that the low rate of dependence in petroleum is also a positive trend, because there are a variety of alternative energy sources available in the country such as geothermal, biomass and hydrogas.

Furthermore, he said that because of the country’s large population and rich resources, the Philippines has become one of the emerging markets in the world.

On possible sunrise industries that can be developed in the coming years, Villegas identified agribusiness, mining, transport, telecom, tourism, infrastructures, automobiles, consumer durables, information technology, logistics and retailing, health care and medical tourism.

However, Villegas also said that there are still weaknesses and challenges that could affect the economic performance of the country, such as corruption and natural calamities like the La Nina phenomenon, which is typified by strong typhoons and storms, heavy rains and cold spells. –Mayvelin U. Caraballo, Reporter, Manila Times