Philippines continues to pursue green growth, green jobs

CEBU, Philippines - The Philippines reiterated its full commitment to make green growth a reality by creating a climate conducive for trade and investments in the Environmental Goods and Services (EGS) sector during the recent Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Public-Private Partnership Dialogue on Environmental Goods and Services (PPEGS) in Boracay, Philippines.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) says that the Philippines is amplifying efforts to promote trade and investment in the environmental goods and services sector to support green growth, build sustainable and resilient communities and businesses and advance efforts to address climate change in the Asia-Pacific Region.

During the meeting, industry representatives and policymakers from APEC member economies exchanged views on issues that hinder EGS trade and investments, undertook capacity-building activities relevant to their commitments for sustainable green growth, identified best practices to promote EGS trade and investment, and discussed the role of public-private partnerships (PPP) in facilitating trade in the APEC region.

The vision is to achieve a greener future for APEC member economies at the lowest possible cost, create new green jobs and utilize the latest environmental technologies to benefit all APEC member economies, says DTI.

The department adds that improved market access for environmental goods would stimulate trade and investment, reduce cost, and contribute to efforts in addressing climate change.

Meanwhile, the manufacturing sector of the Philippines is challenged to significantly strengthen its competitiveness as Asia’s economies and their businesses are increasingly becoming main drivers for Green Economic Development (GED) worldwide.

Already today, the local business community sees in the overuse of natural resources and the impacts of climate change a key challenge to do business successfully and to ensure its long-term economic growth perspective.

In a common effort, industry and government in the Philippines have launched an initiative, in which sectoral road maps which define a well-focused stimulation for an industry driven GED are elaborated and submitted to the DTI.

DTI explains that public policies on regulation, subsidies, incentives and information have a central role to play for the green modernization of the industry. (FREEMAN)