Balisacan pushes regional cooperation beyond trade

MANILA — The Philippines has asked other Asean membercountries to push regional cooperation beyond the traditional areas of trade and financial assistance.

In his speech during the Asean Regional Assessment Workshop on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Achievement and Post-2015 Development Priorities, Economic Planning chief Arsenio M. Balisacan called on his peers to work together on areas such as disaster risk reduction and management, social protection, technology access and transfer, data generation and management, and capacity building of local institutions.

In the area of disaster risk management, Asean members can strengthen the points of collaboration already spelled out in the Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response, Balisacan said.

“Aside from being an instrument that helps our citizens in managing shocks from disasters, this initiative is also crucial given the increasing interaction of our communities through in-migration and the changes our citizens have to go through during the early stages of the Asean integration,” Balisacan, who is also directorgeneral of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), said.

In the area of data, he called for investment in “knowledge management technologies and capacities so we can prepare sound, evidence-based plans and policies post-2015.”

Balisacan said working towards development also requires going beyond one-sizefits-all approaches.

“To this end, we must work together in enhancing the capacities of our local institutions for crafting and implementing effective development plans,” he said. (Interaksyon.com)