NEDA updates PDP for inclusive growth

To ensure that the country’s rising economy is sustainable and inclusive, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) over the weekend said that the government is updating the Philippine Development Plan: 2011-2016 (PDP).

“Achieving inclusive growth remains a huge challenge and a top priority. While the economy has been performing respectably well recently, we need to ensure that this growth is inclusive; that is, it is participated in by many more and it is shared by all,” said NEDA Officer-in-Charge and Deputy Director General Emmanuel Esguerra.

Spearheaded by the NEDA, the PDP Midterm Update will assess and address gaps, constraints and bottlenecks in attaining rapid, sustained and inclusive growth.

Esguerra added that with the latest economic, social and political developments here and ab­road, there is a need to revisit and update the PDP to ensure the country is efficiently heading towards its medium-term goals.

“With the participation of government line agencies, local government units and civil society groups, strategies in the updated plan will more closely consider spatial and sectoral dimensions, to ensure that those in the poor areas and sectors are main­streamed in the growth process,” he stated.

Moreover, the NEDA official noted that overseas Filipinos and their families will also be explicitly regarded in the plan, as they constitute one of the sources of growth and development for the country.

Meanwhile, the agency mentioned that PDP’s accompanying document or the Results Matrix, will also be revalidated simultaneously. The document contains the list of indicators that can be monitored to determine the progress of the plan.

It continued that both PDP Midterm Update and the revalidated Results Matrix will highlight three critical elements such as high and sustained economic growth; growth that generates mass employment; and growth that reduces poverty and facilitates the achievement of the millennium development goals.

Transparent and responsive governance, guarantee of national security and peace, and ecological integrity will remain an overarching platform in implementing the strategies in the plan, it said.

The PDP Midterm Update is expected to be available before the end of the year. –Mayvelin U. Caraballo Reporter, Manila Times