DAVAO City--The 10-point socioeconomic agenda of the incoming administration is being given flesh during a two-day consultative meeting of the economic team of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte that began here yesterday. Organizers of the event dubbed “Sulong: Hakbang Tungo sa Kaunlaran” and held at SMX Convention Center said it is the first of annual series over the next six years. “This effort is not a stand-alone undertaking. It is anchored on the long-term Filipino 2040 vision and the next medium-term Philippine Development Planning cycle, both led by Neda,” press briefer said. It added the meeting will enlist help from the private sector to ensure “widespread participation of key stakeholders in formulating plans and programs” and “generate recommendations from the business community for the incoming Duterte administration” on the 10-point socioeconomic agenda. Duterte’s 10-point socioeconomic agenda includes the following measures:
  • Continue and maintain current macroeconomic policies, including fiscal, monetary, and trade policies.
  • Institute progressive tax reform and more effective tax collection, indexing taxes to inflation. A tax reform package will be submitted to Congress by September 2016.
  • Increase competitiveness and the ease of doing business. This effort will draw upon successful models used to attract business to local cities, and pursue the relaxation of the Constitutional restrictions on foreign ownership, except as regards land ownership, in order to attract foreign direct investment.
  • Accelerate annual infrastructure spending to account for five percent of GDP, with Public-Private Partnerships playing a key role.
  • Promote rural and value chain development toward increasing agricultural and rural enterprise productivity and rural tourism.
  • Ensure security of land tenure to encourage investments, and address bottlenecks in land management and titling agencies.
  • Invest in human capital development, including health and education systems, and match skills and training to meet the demand of businesses and the private sector.
  • Promote science, technology, and the creative arts to enhance innovation and creative capacity towards self-sustaining, inclusive development.
  • Improve social protection programs, including the government’s Conditional Cash Transfer program, to protect the poor against instability and economic shocks.
  • Strengthen implementation of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law to enable especially poor couples to make informed choices on financial and family planning.
On the first day of the meeting, incoming National Economic Development Authority Director General Ernesto Pernia would give an economic situationer while incoming Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez would explain how the 10-point socioeconomic agenda would address major challenges of inclusive growth. Results of the consultative meeting would be presented to Duterte this afternoon. Led by Carlos Dominguez, the event was held in partnership with the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Mindanao Business Council. (antonio colina IV of mindanews)