National planning for development

National planning for development is the blueprint or master-plan for nation building. We must carefully plan our development in order to be at par with our Asian neighbors in the competition for quality products and efficient services.

To get there, first and foremost, it is a must that our infrastructure and utilities be developed as the delivery of goods and services will be inefficient without adequate and modern infrastructure and utilities. As the human skeleton provides the structural framework that holds and binds the body together, so does the infrastructure and utilities provide the physical network that impels development.

Secondly, corollary to the set-up of modernized infrastructure and utilities is the equally important development of our human resources. A country is but the sum of its people. Thus, our citizens must be continuously trained in whatever field of work or activity, whether as a businessman/employer or employee. With a better-trained and informed manpower, better goods and services will follow.

Thirdly, we must be able to harness our resources more effectively by applying modern technology in their use. Our country, blessed as it is with varied and abundant natural resources, must nevertheless acquire the latest in technology through continued researches and development. In this way, all our natural resources – waters, minerals, forest and the like, will be maximized in its use and be most beneficial for all.

Fourthly, governance itself, especially in the delivery of goods and services to our people, must be continuously reviewed in light of its current performance and in its delivery of results. We must always bear in mind that anything can be improved, governance included.

Pursuing vigorously the above program of action will without doubt push our country into more competitive positions vis-à-vis our neighbors in the production of better goods and the delivery of more efficient services. After all, it is the country that effectively delivers services and quality goods at the lowest cost that ultimately prevails in the marketplace of competition.

Indeed, similar aggressive programs for national development have been pursued, have been tried and tested by more affluent economies. Their formula proved successful to them. Inexorably, the same formula should work for us as well. For truly, there is no need for us to reinvent the wheel. The winning principles are there for us to apply and follow.

Still the question persists to be asked: How do we finance all these programs of action, tried and tested as they are, if we do not have the money? That, indeed, remains the core questions, the constant snag, to development. Given our limited money supply, how do we finance our infrastructure and utilities, our human resources development, the proper use and of our natural resources, and raising of the level of our governance?

The simple solution, though seemingly very hard for our leaders and authorities to realize and comprehend is: Not to limit our money supply but to increase it to the required level needed to finance developmental projects and strategic industries.

You may write your comments, thoughts, suggestions at 15/F Equitable Tower Paseo de Roxas, Salcedo Village, Makati City or through e-mail at [email protected].

(Editor’s note: Atty. Roxas is writing a limited series of articles dealing with financial matters and other important business topics. His next article will explain the vital need to adjust our money supply to keep it abreast with our financial needs. – Ed.)