By Ronron
March 9, 2005
Cebu - Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo sought on Wendesday the support of both foreign and local investors gathered here for the Philippine Investment Conference for the implementation of her administration's infrastructure projects as she presented how the country's economy is faring now.
In her keynote address during the opening yesterday here of the Philippine Investment Conference at the Shangri-la Mactan Island Resort, the President encouraged investors to help upgrade and create new facilities such as airports, roads, and roll-on roll-off facilities, which, she said are vital, especially for tourism.
Arroyo made the appeal as she presented to the estimated 500 foreign and local conference delegates some projects and efforts her administration is undertaking around the country.
"We're counting on the full cooperation of the public and private sectors in order to capitalize on these vast opportunities that are before us... Our efforts to develop these sectors (energy and power, tourism, information and communication technology (ICT), outsourcing, and mining) provide many investment opportunities," Arroyo said.
Currently, the government, she said, are embarking on the following endeavors on which private investors may also take part: 1) logistics investments at Clark and Subic; 2) expressway and ports, high technology and manufacturing in Metro Manila and Southern Luzon; 3) agri-business in Mindanao and Northern Luzon; 4) tourism in Central Philippines; and, 5) business process outsourcing (BPO) in Cebu and Davao.
Arroyo cited the government's initiative to create the Philippine Infrastructure Corporation which will help develop commercial and bankable projects that can be taken over by the private sector.
"We are in a new round of reform and recovery. I believe that at the end of the tunnel is hope and opportunity borne of strong macroeconomic fundamentals including fiscal responsibilities, aggressive market initiatives, a positive climate for investment, and major drive against corruption," Arroyo said.
She bragged again about the gains of her administration: the rise of the country's gross domestic product in 2004 to 6.1 percent, the increase of the country's exports in 2004 by 9.3%, the surge of the stock market by 39%, the removal of the Philippines from the list of the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering, the increase of foreign investments, and the sound control of the budget deficit.
Arroyo also told the conference delegates about the passage by Congress of her revenue bills, the opening of the mining sector for investment, the upcoming opening of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal III, the surge of jobs at call centers, and the perceived benefits of the future trade agreements of the PHilippines between Japan and China.
To further complete the picture, the President assured the investors that peace and order in the country is being addressed. "Kidnapping syndicates are being broken. Kidnapping instances are weighed down. We are tough on terrorists," she said. Peace accord with seccessionist groups, like the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), is also making progress, she revealed.
"This is a pivotal year for the Philippines, a year of challenges and changes," she marked.
Her Economic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri noted that with all the reforms being implemented now, "we expect the first half of (Arroyo's new term) to be difficult... But in the second half, everything will be okay."/DMS
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