PHL agribusiness, mining lagging in reforms – foreign business groups

Despite an increase in efforts to address issues in the business sector, the agribusiness and mining sectors remain lagging in terms of improvement, according to the latest report by the Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines (JFCP).

 

Of the 471 policy recommendations from foreign and local businesses laid out in 2010, JFCP's Arangkada Philippines report showed 73.26 percent were progressing while 26.97 percent were rated as not ongoing or even regressing.

 

The numbers improved from the 2012 report, with 65 percent of the recommendations progressing and 35.41 percent were not ongoing or regressing.

 

However, improving numbers does not necessarily translate to improvement in the business sector, Ian Porter, Australia-New Zealand Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Inc. president, told reporters after the third Arangkada forum in Makati City on Wednesday.

 

"You can't just say we've had great success in achieving this kind of the number of recommendations which have progressed. You have to look at what recommendations are not ongoing or have regressed," Porter said.

 

Government actions on issues raised by businesses were rated as "no longer relevant," "having gone backward," "not ongoing," "started," "having made substantial progress" or "completed."

 

Arangkada Philippines is a comprehensive advocacy paper intended to share recommendations that should lead to the creation of $75 billion in new foreign investments, 10 million jobs and over P1 trillion in revenue for the Philippines within this decade.

 

JFCP named seven big winner sectors: agribusiness, business processing, creative industries, infrastructure, manufacturing, logistics, mining, and tourism.

'Unperforming' winners

 

Of the winners, Porter said agribusiness and mining were "unperforming" and both were key to the future of the economy.

 

"Agribusiness is a big issue in the Philippines. It is a very crucial area as it feeds manufacturing, and manufacturing is where the employment growth is," he said.

 

"Mining hasn't progressed at all. Illegal mining has progressed. The economy is suffering because illegal miners don't pay revenue to the government and people suffer because of the damage they do to environment," he said.

 

"The Philippines has great opportunity in mining and should create a responsible, environmentally friendly mining regime that could create thousands of jobs," Porter added.

 

The poverty incidence was 25.2 percent in 2012, latest government data show, while the unemployment rate was 6.8 percent last October. 

 

Roberto de Ocampo, Philippine Veterans Bank chairman, said these two sectors need immediate government attention in order to create more jobs for inclusive growth.

 

Julian Payne, Canadian Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Inc. president, said most mines are located in remote areas where unemployment is highest.

 

"Therefore mining has a huge impact in reducing unemployment in remote areas where it is high," he said.

 

John Forbes, American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines senior adviser, said the government should not wait for issues to take place and should plan ahead.

 

"Each reform is a brick and a house is strong if all the bricks are put together properly," Forbes said. – VS, GMA News