Saturday, June 23, 2007 Gov’t needs to invest more for infra projects in agri
INDUSTRY leaders call on the Philippine government to invest in agriculture development to boost productivity in order to sustain the consumer market.
“Because of the low productivity of agriculture in the country, we are now overtaken by China,” said Raul Concepcion, chairman and chief executive officer of Concepcion Industries Inc.
“I think government should now look into land reforms,” he added.
Ysmael Baysa, Jollibee Foods Corp. vice president and corporate finance and chief finance officer, said low production of farm products like onions and garlic has forced the Filipino fastfood firm to import.
“There is a need for government to invest in the countryside and help improve the lives of many,” he said.
Baysa said that while the country’s employment rate is generated by the agricultural sector, the industry only contributes a “low” 20 percent to the gross domestic product (GDP).
While consumption is driven by the growth in remittances of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the last few years, Baysa advised government to look into more long-term sustainable growth for the consumer market.
Single digit
“What if OFW remittances taper down to a single digit? We hope that there will be more investments to drive GDP by investing in the countryside,” he said.
Teresita Sy-Coson, vice chairperson of SM Investments Corp., said that if government cannot directly address the problem of the country’s agricultural sector and if infrastructure development would take a long time, then privatization is the key to spur short-term economic growth for the country.
“If there is privatization, I think there will be lots of investments coming into the country,” she said in a panel discussion during the two-day 2nd Annual Philippine Investment Conference yesterday.
Confederation of Philippine Exporters (Philexport)-Cebu executive director Fred Escalona earlier advised stakeholders “to not simply rely on government agencies.” (MMM)
