2007 PHILIPPINES DEVELOPMENT FORUM
March 8-9, 2007
Marco Polo Hotel, Cebu, Philippines
Opening Statement by the Chairperson
Secretary Margarito Teves
Bepartment of Finance
Good afternoon everyone.
We have concluded another widely-participated dialogue with development partners in this year’s Philippines Development Forum.
Some 300 delegates from the government, international donor community, the academe, private sector, and the civil society have gathered to renew their commitment to the government’s development agenda.
We have noted the accomplishments we’ve had since our last meeting. Our commitment to fiscal and economic reforms generated market confidence. The peso is at its strongest level in six years. The stock market has turned bullish, and until recently, the main index hit near 11 year-highs. The average inflation dropped to a two-year low last year. Government borrowing costs as seen in Treasury bill rates have declined to levels even lower than those before the 1997 Asian crisis. The domestic economy as measured by the GDP had grown by a respectable rate of more than 5% for three consecutive years, the first time since the 1970s.
The biggest challenge now and in the medium-term is how to sustain these fiscal and economic reforms so that will bring about higher level of investments and economic growth that will benefit the majority of our people.
To address this challenge, we discussed the following reform initiatives:
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Achieving broad-based growth by meeting the Millennium Development Goals and investing in human development;
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Sustaining fiscal progress by strengthening revenue collections, implementing the 2007 expenditure program, intensifying governance reforms, and developing the capital markets;
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Enhancing competitiveness by reducing transaction costs and improving transaction flows, supporting a seamless infrastructure network, and ensuring energy cost-efficiency and self-sufficiency, and
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Nurturing regional and local growth by enhancing local government services, sustaining rural development, and putting focus on Mindanao.
Our co-chair Joachim von Amsberg will give you the highlights of these discussions later.
The Philippine government through the NEDA also presented to our development partners ten priority high-impact infrastructure projects where the government needs immediate and sustained support.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Vice President Noli de Castro again joined us in this year’s session to demonstrate the government’s commitment to these reforms.
Let me now turn you over to Joachim for the highlights of the discussions during these two days.
Thank you.
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