Corruption could delay further the country’s economic recovery, according to a majority of chief executive officers (CEOs) to the findings of a survey commissioned by the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP).
The PwC MAP 2022 Philippine CEO survey conducted between July and August on 119 respondents showed 52 percent say it will take two to three years for the economy to recover and 40 percent say it would take a year or two.
Sixty-seven percent of the CEOs tagged corruption as the biggest threat to recovery followed by lower investments, 38 percent and; political uncertainty.
For their own businesses, 87 percent of CEOs are confident their company will experience revenue growth in the next 12 months. Around 38 percent expect to post significantly higher revenues/sales this year compared from prior the pandemic while 35 percent have yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels.
Commenting on the need to attract foreign and local investments, MAP president Rogelio Singson said honoring existing contracts is a good start.
“A lot of contracts in government (which) had been… brought to arbitration and won in arbitration (but were) not the executed. So that’s an easy solution,
honor contracts,” Singson said in a press conference yesterday.
Rick Danao, PwC Philippines chairman, commenting on corruption said:
“The perception of corruption alone erodes trust. Unless we address the root cause of corruption, we cannot really accelerate foreign direct investments for the country compared to neighbors Vietnam and Thailand. So that’s the t hope and that’s a prayer (that) we will be able to really build trust by addressing the root cause of corruption.”
Mary Jade Roxas, PwC managing partner, said business leaders have identified higher prices and the supply chain issues as well as labor constraints coupled with the global constraints sending inflation, interest rates and fuel costs higher as possible continuing problems even after the pandemic.
