Agri, manufacturing to help generate jobs

CEBU, Philippines - To create more good jobs and sustain economic growth, the manufacturing and agriculture sectors must be revived to achieve the strong resurgence of the two.

Assistant Secretary Rafaelita Aldaba of Department of Trade and Industry said the services sector currently leads the economy in terms of having a big share in the total value added and employment generation in the country.

“Services can’t provide all the needed jobs in this country and it is important for us to transform the economy,” Aldaba said during a forum in Cebu on industry roadmaps and economic integration. “And we want to pursue this via implementing a new industrial policy.”

The data she presented showed the country’s manufacturing industry posted a weak performance in the past two decades. In 1980s, it only had an average growth of 0.9 percent; 2.5 percent in 1990s; and 4.1 percent average growth in 2000s. The growth in the 2000s was so far modest growth experienced in the sector.

She further explained manufacturing’s share in the total output of the country plunged to 24 percent in the 1990s through the 2000s, lower compared to 28 percent in 1970s and 26 percent in the 1980s.

The jobs it also created dropped to nine percent in 2000s, lower than 11 percent in the mid-1970s, the official cited. She noted the industry fell short in generating sufficient jobs for the new entrants in the labor force.

“We are facing these challenges but there are a lot of growth opportunities for us. You can see the economic performance of the Philippines considering its GDP growth rate,” said Aldaba, who was senior research fellow of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies.

In 2013, the Philippine economy accelerated to 7.2 percent, the second largest in Asia after China. But it slowed down to 5.3 percent in the third quarter of this year.

The decrease was attributed to the contraction of agriculture sector growth to 2.7 percent -- the lowest in five years --  and the underspending of the government. The government claimed achieving the full-year target growth of 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent would be a big challenge.

The trade official, however, expressed confidence on the strong resurgence of the manufacturing sector, as shown by recent data.

She reported the industry grew 8.1 percent in the first half of this year and 10.8 percent in the second quarter. Last year, it grew to 10.5 percent from 5.4 percent a year ago. — Carlo S. Lorenciana (FREEMAN)