Poverty, income…

the lagging areas or regions with the fastgrowing, leading areas or regions of the country. Large-scale targeted programs also need to be in place to directly assist those who are unable to participate in the growth process.

Balisacan assured though that government is now creating new drivers of growth that would generate high quality jobs and strengthen regional competitive advantages.

The Philippine Development Plan 20112016 (and its revised edition) as well as various regional development plans have identified priority industries that, according to Balisacan, “present the highest growth potentials and generate the most jobs.”

The revised PDP would put more emphasis on employment generating sectors such as manufacturing, agriculture, tourism, information technology-business process outsourcing, agri-business, and housing.

Putting greater pressure on infrastructure development is one of the crucial steps, which includes improving the processes related to the public-private partnership (PPP). “The pace of implementation has been slower than desired,” Balisacan further admitted.

But the strategic goal for inclusive and sustainable growth, he said, lies in the use of technology, improvements in policy, and institutional reforms.

Countries must invest in research and development (R&D) and good governance, he added.

“We need to channel our efforts towards increasing the productivity of agriculture and industries through science and technology, and improve the links between agriculture and industry so that high quality jobs can be created, especially for the unskilled,” the NEDA chief said.

S&T innovations that directly improve the quality of life, especially those related to health, safety, and environmental quality, are also crucially needed. Other sectors in the economy also have critical issues that could be addressed by advances in S&T.