Services sector seen to spur future economic activity

Government and the private sector are in agreement that the wave of future economic activity will come from the services sector and veer away from manufacturing.

Trade and Industry Secretary Manuel Roxas II pointed out that the manufacturing sector has evolved to such an extent that there is now so much efficiency in the production line.

He elaborated that being more efficient, manufacturing activities now involve robotics and automation, and, accordingly, "a manufacturing plant does not yield as many jobs as it used to."

He cited the fact that warehousemen, stockkeepers, and forklift operators are no longer that essential because most companies do not maintain warehouses.

He further cited the fact that because of robotics and automation, welding no longer has to be done manually, and welding jobs are not that many.

Roxas said the number one goal of the Arroyo administration is job generation. However, he clarified that he is not downgrading the importance of the manufacturing sector.

"All we’re saying is yes, manufacturing is important, but we’re conscious of job generation," Roxas said.

He explained that while a P1-billion investment that creates only 300 jobs (because of automation) is still important, an investment of only P100 million but which creates 1,000 jobs is also welcome.

Industrialist Raul Concepcion, for his part, expressed that view that the business sector is looking at other activities away from manufacturing.

He cited as an example the Ayala Group and Aboitiz who are looking into new ventures.

One attractive venture, according to Concepcion would be the agro-industrial sector.

Roxas also noted a future in agro-industrial ventures moving one step up from agricultural production to food processing.

He, however, remained confident on information technology outsourcing, specifically, the service-oriented call centers.

Such jobs, Roxas assured are "high quality jobs" and are "serious" and offer permanent employment.