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Monday, August 08, 2005
RP ‘loses competitiveness’ with workforce problems
THE country will eventually lose its competitiveness in attracting foreign direct investors if it will continue to shrug off problems on the availability of qualified human resources and the productivity of its workforce.
According to former Department of Finance secretary and president of the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) Roberto de Ocampo, the country should recognize its declining competitive advantage and start doing something about it.
“(To fast-track the development of the country) we should stop the denial mode that nothing is wrong, we must stop repeating our mantra that we have an English-speaking, educated, technically proficient labor force and then wonder why nothing has every happened (to our economy),” de Ocampo said during the 5th regional convention of the Personnel Management Association of the Philippines (Pmap) at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino on Thursday.
“We will never move forward if we will not accept that a cancer is eating away at our system,” he added.
De Ocampo urged members of the Pmap to take on the active role of retooling and reshaping the country’s labor force to increase the country’s overall productivity.
According to AIM’s 2005 world competitiveness survey of 60 countries, the Philippines ranked fifth from the lowest in the area of productivity.
De Ocampo said the country’s level of productivity today is the same as that in 1988.
In the area of education, the country’s labor force is gradually losing its advantage of being able to speak and understand English well over the workers of countries such as India, China and Japan.
The country is also one of the countries that garnered a low score, slightly higher than Micronesia, in an international survey on math and science skills.
De Ocampo said that the decline in education is partly due to the government’s lack of recognition on the importance of education as manifested in the decreasing budget allotted to the social service.
Last year, the Philippines allocated only three percent of the gross national product (GNP) for the education budget. The ideal budget recommended by the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization is six percent of the GNP.
The GNP refers to the annual total value of the products and services produced by the country, including income from other countries.
However, the survey also revealed that the Philippines rose to the 49th most competitive country this year from 52nd last year.
“This is the first time since 2001 that the country’s position went up. But the survey was done before the political turmoil,” de Ocampo pointed out.
President Gloria Arroyo has been accused of cheating in last year’s polls. JBN
(August 8, 2005 issue)
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