Businesses yesterday identified sectors that would underpin growth but said too much regulations and lack of coordination between national government agencies and local government units (LGUs) drag the ease of doing business in the Philippines.
Tessie Sy-Coson, vice chairperson of SM Investment Corp., said infrastructure, technology, consumption, health and energy are the growth areas of the Philippines in the next few years.
“I am very positive about our growth,” Sy-Coson said.
Sy-Coson suggested that government make processes more simple and clear to make it easier for investors to come in, whether local or foreign.
“The Philippines is always a country with a lot of potentials, except that we usually have difficulty communicating `what is our requirements’? Even for us, sometimes we don’t know what is our requirements,” she said.
Sy-Coson said inflation remains a challenge due to the effects of geopolitical problems although on its own, the Philippines’ numbers are okay.
“We cannot go to idealistic level. As much as we want to lower our inflation rate, we are just one country in the whole world. We can manage (inflation). It’s a bit tough,” said Sy-Coson.
Benedicta Du-Baladad, president of the Management Association of the Philippines, said bottlenecks can be addressed through coordination between NGAs and LGUs.
Du-Baladad said a survey of MAP members in November listed as number one concern ease of doing business especially at the local level. The group is poised to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Anti Red Tape Authority and the Department of Interior and Local Government to address this issue.
Sy-Coson said economic activities will be fueled by micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) which account for more than 60 percent of employment,
“In our economy, the MSME (sector) plays a very major role. We don’t have a lot of large industries so we have a lot of MSMEs,” Sy-Coson said.
Being in the consumer sector, SM Group deals with a lot of MSMEs.
“We provide the venue which is the mall for a lot of MSMEs. We also (grant access to financing by providing consumer loans,” said Sy-Coson, referring to SM’s banking business. – Irma Isip
