Robust growth seen for mfg sector: 10% expansion projected in next 2 years

MANILA, Philippines - He said the the manufacturing sector would continue to grow as the government is actively promoting the Philippines as an investment destination, and as more manufacturing companies come to the country to set up operations.

“Companies are here because of our competitiveness,” he said noting that the country has incentives clearly defined by law, stable inflation rate, strong economic growth, and low wage costs.

Other factors seen to attract manufacturing firms to locate in the country are the availability of skilled, English speaking and loyal workforce, as well as the good governance efforts.

Aside from encouraging foreign companies to set up manufacturing facilities in the country, the government is also addressing the constraints to the growth of the sector.

Trade undersecretary Adrian Cristobal, Jr. said in the same event the government is set to implement the manufacturing road map this year which would outline strategies for the sector to grow.

He noted that the manufacturing sector currently accounts for just 20 to 23-percent of the country’s total economic output.

“We want to bring it higher, to 30-to 34-percent of GDP (gross domestic product), similar to our neighbors,” he said.

The manufacturing roadmap is based on the industry road maps submitted by different private sector groups last year.

The industry roadmaps contain goals, strategies and required interventions from government to achieve growth.

“By end of last year, we received 21 industry roadmaps. There are four roadmaps being revised as we speak...Within the year, we should gather additional roadmaps,” Cristobal said.

The government, he said, has likewise allocated more than P2 billion to support the resurgence of the manufacturing sector this year through the revival of the policymaking body the Industry Development Council as well as other programs like research and development and training.

He also said the industry roadmaps would be used in the Investment Priorities Plan (IPP), which will outline activities that could qualify for incentives, to be released this year.

“The IPP will also be based on these documents, the roadmaps, so we should expect a very different IPP this year. This time we will have a real plan. We will have more strategic, well thought of list of activities to incentivize. There will be elaborate consultative process this quarter,” he said.

The DTI aims to come up with a draft for the 2014 IPP to be used for consultations next week.

As for the final list, the DTI targets to have it completed within the quarter.

Meanwhile, Domingo said the services sector is expected to grow by seven percent as the information technology – business process management sector continues to expand.