Aquino vows government will be proactive in promoting investments

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino said his administration would be “proactive” in promoting investments and would not be like the comical Juan Tamad.

Juan Tamad is a caricature of an indolent Filipino whose pastime is lying under a tree and waiting for fruit to fall into his mouth.

“While improvements have been made in the economic front, my administration will not be Juan Tamad waiting for the coconut to fall. As the rest of the world competes for increased foreign direct investments, I urge you to become more proactive in investment promotion efforts,” the President said during the 36th Philippine Business Conference and Expo in Manila.

Mr. Aquino also urged businessmen to take advantage of the country’s bright economic prospects and help his government provide more jobs to the people through investments.

“We must ride on the positive outlook for our economy in general, as well as the proliferation of international investment agreements in bilateral, regional and inter-regional levels,” he said.

The President said it had only been over a hundred days, “but this early, our business and economic prospects are bright and promising.”

“With this on hand, I call on all of you to work with us in enhancing the business climate in the country. Relieve the government from having to spend on items that investors can manage more efficiently: this will free up our scarce government resources, allowing us to direct them instead to investments in education, health care and other social services,” the President said.

“A better educated, more productive workforce will be the dividends of your investments. This will spur the growth of income opportunities, the pool of skilled workers and the markets for products and services that many of you here today provide,” he said.

“I look forward to working closely with all of you, the drivers of the Philippine economy. The cooperation between the private and public sectors will ensure that the Philippines remains to be a country that is ‘open for business’,” he said.

Good ratings

In an ambush interview later at the Palace, President Aquino also expressed belief that the economy was stable enough to get an upgrade from credit rating agencies like Moody’s, Fitch and Standard & Poor’s.

Mr. Aquino also cited the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s moving the Philippines from its tax haven “grey list” to the “white list.”