In photo (Clockwise from top left): British Chamber of Commerce Philippines Executive Chairman Chris Nelson, Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo, Industry Development and Trade Policy Group and DTI Vice-Chairman and Managing Head of Philippine Board of Investment, Mr. Edward Lee, Chief Economist, ASEAN, and South Asia, Standard Chartered Bank, and Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon, National Development Policy and Planning, (NEDA).
By Monsi A. Serrano
Following the gradual opening of the economy in the Philippines across all industries and the availability of various coronavirus vaccines, the business sector and other stakeholders look forward to a better 2021.
Highlighting the need to ramp up economic recovery and bring in more foreign investors, the 3 hours 2021 Virtual Economic Outlook spearheaded by the British Chamber of Commerce Philippines has resulted in intelligent, innovative, and co-creative discussions by exploring viable solutions and opportunities in the business. Likely scenarios and forecasts were presented for the government to consider post-COVID-19.
What made the Virtual Economic Outlook exciting was the active participation from the attendees during the discussions and questions and concerns raised that will be included in the feedback mechanism for the government to evaluate and consider to implement.
The discussions about fostering resiliency, boosting the foreign direct investments, and welcoming of the opportunities in a post-pandemic scenario were covered.
Present speakers at the event were Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo, Industry Development and Trade Policy Group and DTI Vice-Chairman and Managing Head of Philippine Board of Investment, Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon, National Development Policy and Planning, (NEDA) and Mr. Edward Lee, Chief Economist, ASEAN and South Asia, Standard Chartered Bank.
Concerns about vaccination, travel restrictions, removing economic barriers, and age restrictions in the Philippines were discussed.
Both DTI and NEDA urged for the government to allow children to go out in a bid to increase economic activity. NEDA underscored the importance of removing economic barriers and passing the economic reforms to attract foreign direct investment in the country such as the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act and Retail Trade and Liberalization Act.
The British Chamber of Commerce Philippines 2021 Virtual Economic Outlook is supported by the Nordic Chamber of Commerce Philippines, German Chamber of Commerce Philippines, French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the Philippines, and Spanish Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines.