DTI to release 2011 Philippine Roadmap

MANILA, Philippines –  The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is coming out with a 2011 Roadmap in an effort to achieve the $3.5-billion foreign direct investment (FDI) target set by the government.

In a press conference last Friday, Trade Undersecretary Cristino L. Panlilio said the DTI will come out with a Roadmap next week. Aside from the $3.5-billion FDI, Panlilio said the Roadmap is also key in achieving the projected 10 percent growth in FDI.

This is the first time that the DTI will publish an annual Roadmap. “We want to do it in a more logical fashion,” Panlilio said.

“We are doing this in order to reach the national goals and to alleviate poverty and to eliminate it all together in 2016,” Panlilio said.

The Roadmap, Panlilio said, is loosely based on the Arangkada Philippines of the Joint Foreign Chambers (JFC).

Arangkada Philippines 2010: A Business Perspective is about creating a bright future for the Philippines, the 12th most populous country and probably the 10th or 9th by 2030. Arangkada is a guidebook to a better Philippines, with the Per Capita Income (PCI) of a middle-income economy, robust investment levels, better infrastructure and higher government revenues to pay for social services, especially education and health. The research was done over a period of six months and covered 290 investors.

The country’s GDP growth has caught up with the ASEAN region. Unfortunately, the growth in the 80’s and the 90’s was lowest of the ASEAN 6. As such, JFC said that nine percent to 10 percent must be the planned target. This is twice as fast as the 4.6 percent average from 2001 to mid 2010.