December 6, 2012
Left to Right: Ms. Vina Dimanalata, Director from ASCEND, Ms. Sittie Butocan, Deputy Director
from BSP, Ms. April Tan,
VP and Head of Research from COL Financial and Dr. Shanaka Peiris, Resident Representative
from IMF.
To provide insights about the economic conditions of the
Philippines, The All-Asian Centre for Enterprise Development (ASCEND) Inc. held
its 4th quarter economic forum this year entitled “Economic Prospects 2013: The Philippines is finally taking off! How do
we sustain the momentum?” at the AIM Conference Centre Manila.
ASCEND invited well - experienced economic experts
representing their respective expertise. The guest speakers were Ms. Sittie
Butocan, Deputy Director of the Economic Research Department from Bangko
Sentral ng Pilipinas, Dr. Shanaka Peiris, Resident Representative to the
Philippines from International Monetary Fund and Ms. April Tan, Vice President
and Head of Research from COL Financial.
Ms. Butocan discussed the contributing factors on the
vibrant economic condition of the Philippines. She mentioned that the improved
investor confidence and ratings brought a positive effect. She further shared that the 7.1% GDP growth, which was anchored
on consumer’s spending, exceeded the expectation of the experts and analysts.
Dr. Peiris challenged the Philippines in transforming these
recent positive economic activities into more investment-oriented opportunities
in the countries. Currently, the
Philippines has not explored the benefits presented in an investor rich
country.
According to Ms. Tan, Investments in the country would
maximize the potentials of the young population of the Philippines. She focused
on the contribution of the young professionals in the GDP through their
spending on products and services.
All speakers shared that the drivers
to the vibrant economic performance of the Philippines were from the
manufacturing and services sectors. These drivers
would greatly contribute to the sustainability and further growth of our
country.
All speakers shared that the drivers to the vibrant economic
performance of the Philippines were from the manufacturing and services
sectors. These divers would greatly contribute to the sustainability and
further growth of our country.
Furthermore, the speakers believe that the Philippines will
continue to achieve economic growth. According to BSP, there will be a 6.0 –
7.0 for 2013. Ms. Tan concluded the forum with a positive note, “Outlook
remains favorable and it will remain resilient.”
The participants were very receptive on the ideas they gained from the insights of the
speakers. They are hoping that they will be able to contribute in the
transformation of these positive economic activities into economic developments
through applying what they learned in their own businesses. They believe that this event is very helpful
in their business and personal endeavors for it offers a lot of things.
According to Ms. Legaspi, Manager of Mc Donalds, “Not only the opportunities
but definitely we see the risks that were discussed there in relation to our
business.”
ASCEND is a collective enterprise jointly owned by partners
– consultants and professionals. Its thrust is to provide knowledge management,
people management, and strategy formulation to government and industry, locally
and internationally. For more details,
you can visit their website: www.ascendph.com.
