Implementation-ready PH dev’t plan to sustain high and inclusive growth

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) is confident that the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028 will be ready for implementation at the start of 2023 which will help the economy sustain its high growth, accelerate poverty reduction, and enable the country to attain its identified medium-term socioeconomic goals.

In a briefing with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. in Malacañang on November 15, NEDA Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said the timely completion of the Plan gives the government a huge head start in executing policies and programs as the various government agencies already have a clear strategy.

Balisacan stated that the NEDA engaged in a highly consultative process in developing the plan. The agency conducted numerous stakeholder engagements, where it solicited inputs from various sectors, both public and private, since the start of the Marcos Administration.

“Even during the preparatory period, the various PDP Planning Committees spearheaded numerous nationwide consultations using onsite and online platforms to solicit ideas from different stakeholders and sectors. We also conducted PDP Forums featuring the Youth, Private, and Public sectors. The Advisory Committee, composed of highly distinguished sectoral experts, provided guidance to the PDP team on critical issues affecting sustainable growth and development,” said Balisacan.

During the meeting with the President, Balisacan and other NEDA officials presented the salient points of the upcoming PDP, which seeks to address both near-term and medium-term challenges. For the near term, this includes managing inflation and protecting the purchasing power of Filipinos, addressing the socioeconomic scarring inflicted by the pandemic, and providing targeted assistance to vulnerable groups of the population. For the medium term, the PDP seeks to lay out strategies to address binding constraints to the generation of more, higher-quality, and resilient jobs that will contribute to the rapid reduction of poverty as we aim for our country’s economic transformation towards a prosperous, inclusive, and resilient society” added Balisacan.

“This has to be a whole-of-government and whole-of-society collaboration for economic transformation,” he said. Balisacan emphasized the interrelatedness of the strategies and targets, requiring close coordination and collaboration among government agencies and the private sector.

Strategies in the PDP will support human and social development, including protection from risks and preparation for future economic disruptions. The strategies will also include transforming the production sectors so that they can provide a range of goods and services at competitive prices. This entails creating an enabling environment for growth and investment through policies that foster competition and innovation, harness digitalization as an efficient means of delivering public and private services, and uphold peace and security.

The NEDA has already finished conducting various consultations with different sectors and is currently finalizing the Plan. The PDP is expected to be presented to the President and members of the Cabinet by early December for approval and adoption.