Several measures of competitiveness reveal fundamental weaknesses in major development aspects compared to the rest of the world. Compared with its neighbours, the country's economic performance in terms of investments, exports and competitiveness is unsatisfactory and need to be reversed. The Philippine economy over the past years has been characterized by a reduced share of manufacturing sector in the country's gross domestic product (GDP) and declining gross domestic investment rate.
Enabling the industry and services sectors to contribute significantly to economic growth and employment requires addressing a number of constraints to their development. Strategies shall therefore be pursued to help raise the competitiveness of industries by improving the business environment; raising productivity and efficiency and inculcating quality consciousness among manufacturers and producers to offer quality goods and services comparable with global brands.
Business competitiveness will be enhanced by improving governance, strengthening economic zones, and strengthening national brand identity/awareness. To increase productivity and efficiency, government shall focus interventions on key priority areas, provide firm level support to MSMEs, increase market access, expand industry cluster development and intensify the culture of competitiveness. Proactive measures to empower consumers, promote competition and enforce trade regulations shall also be pursued.
By addressing the country's problem of low competitiveness, this Plan aims to promote higher growth in per capita GDP and boost employment. The focus shall be to enable the industry and services sectors to contribute to massive job generation, provide opportunities for Filipinos to rise above poverty, and ultimately offer a meaningful choice for Filipinos to pursue gainful employment here or abroad. The Plan shall adopt a deliberate, focused approach that addresses the country's business environment, anchored on investments in human capital and implementation characterized by a "back to basics" approach coupled with innovation and "whole of government" as underlying principles.
The chapter focuses on three medium-term goals: (i) improved business environment, (ii) increased productivity and efficiency and, (iii) enhanced consumer welfare.
For a better business environment, government and the private sector shall work to improve governance, as well as investment promotion areas and amplify a National Brand and Identity Awareness. Business competitiveness will be enhanced by promoting a consistent, predictable, and responsive policy environment, streamlining bureaucratic procedures and fostering transparency, promoting e-commerce and ICT-enabled automation, and encouraging partnerships with the private sector. The system of licensing, registration, and issuance of permits shall be improved to reduce the cost of doing business. To promote investments, government shall give priority to key policy concerns, namely: labor, telecommunications, transport (aviation and domestic shipping), energy, peace and order and the rule of law. A national branding or marketing awareness campaign will be launched to bring pride in quality Philippine-made products and to give a distinct identity to the country as a source of products that are valued worldwide.
To increase productivity and efficiency, government shall give priority to the development of areas that have the highest growth potentials and generate the most jobs. These include: tourism; business process outsourcing (BPO); mining; agri-business and forest-based industries; logistics; shipbuilding; housing; electronics; infrastructure; and other industries with high growth potential. Likewise, the government will also increase its market access and further promote Philippine goods and services abroad. A culture of competitiveness shall be intensified, whereby the country's human capital shall be developed through market-sensitive education and training. Government shall work to promote mutually agreed work arrangements between employers and the labor sector and to strengthen tripartite councils to achieve industrial peace. More importantly, an entrepreneurial culture will be fostered by encouraging Filipinos to invest in their own businesses and become successful and innovative entrepreneurs. A two-pronged approach shall be adopted, consisting of firm-level assistance to potential/ new and existing micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and the use of the industry-cluster approach. Government shall promote sustainable livelihood and micro enterprise development, harnessing the Overseas Filipinos (OFs) community as a source of capital.
Program interventions shall be supported to develop the core values needed to form an enterprising nation.
The final key strategy is inculcating quality-consciousness among manufacturers and producers to offer quality goods and services comparable with global brands. Consumer expectations shall be promoted as the impetus for suppliers to deliver quality goods and services that give value for money. The concerns of both businesses and consumers shall be balanced through proactive measures to empower consumers, promote competition, and enforce trade regulations. Government shall: (1) promote consumer education and consumer advocacy; (2) intensify consumer protection and trade regulation; and (3) develop product and service standards. In addition, the entire supply chain shall reduce production and distribution cost particularly on basic and prime commodities