Government urged to focus on job creation
-A A +ATuesday, February 5, 2013
AN OFFICIAL of the World Bank (WB) in the Philippines said Monday that creating jobs, especially in Mindanao, remains the biggest challenge the present administration must address to achieve inclusive growth in the country.
In his speech at the opening of the two-day Philippine Development Forum (PDF) at Marco Polo Hotel in Davao City, Motoo Konishi, WB country director in the Philippines and co-chair of the PDF, said while the program of President Benigno Aquino III, which primarily aims at eradicating corruption in the government, has been proven effective in generating economic progress in the country for the past years, these efforts will be put in vain if these do not bring favorable effects to the masses.
"This conference is about inclusive growth. And what I mean by inclusive growth is creating jobs. The lesson from other countries is that jobs drive inclusive growth," Konishi said.
Despite the remarkable progress in the country's economy for the past year, domestic job market in the formal, services, manufacturing, industries and jobs abroad are not sufficient to meet the actual need in the country.
Thus other sectors, particularly manufacturing, agribusiness and agriculture, have to be given focus in generating job opportunities to address unemployment and poverty.
"Job creation is even more urgent in Mindanao as jobs contribute also to social cohesion. The need for good jobs -- jobs that raise real wages or bring people out of poverty -is an overwhelming challenge," Konishi added.
This year's PDF is the first of its kind where the main focus is the progress in Mindanao as it affects the general development of the country.
"PDF's special focus on Mindanao allows us to integrate into the discussions the development challenges of the region, which is critical for the country's overall development. With the signing of a Framework Agreement for the Bangsamoro, the world's attention is drawn to the needs of not just Muslim Mindanao, but the region as a whole," Konishi added.
Published in the Sun.Star Davao newspaper on February 05, 2013.
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