MANILA -- President Duterte’s economic team led by the Department of Finance (DOF) and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is holding a virtual Philippine Economic Briefing (PEB) this week for the Foreign Chambers of Commerce with the theme, “Reset, Regain, Revitalize: The Philippines' Resurgence as an ASEAN Economic Powerhouse.” 

Set on November 26 (Friday), the economic briefing aims to update the officers and members of foreign chambers on the Philippine government’s initiatives to accelerate recovery and build a better post-pandemic economy while presenting investment priority sectors under the new economy. 

“We hope to use this as an opportunity for economic policymakers to dialogue with the foreign business community in the country on key economic recovery and priority investment issues,” Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, who heads Malacañang’s Economic Development Cluster (EDC), said.

The briefing will be made up of two panel discussions: a) Part 1 on “Forging ahead: Recover, Reform and Revitalize;” and b) Part 2 on “Rebuilding the Economy Back to a Sustained Growth Path Through Investments and Infrastructure.” 

For the first part, panelists are expected to provide the business leaders with a snapshot of the economy’s state 19 months into the pandemic, present updates on the ongoing reform agenda meant to stimulate high growth under the “new normal,” and tackle the need for policy continuity.

Among the invited panel presenters are DOF Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, who will be giving the keynote speech and BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno, who will discuss monetary policy and central banking in the new economy. 

During the second part, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez, Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary William Dar, and Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Arthur Tugade are expected to present and briefly talk about the reforms and priority programs being implemented in their respective agencies to make the business operating environment more conducive to investments despite the pandemic.

Priority investments, agricultural reforms and updates on President Duterte’s signature program “Build, Build, Build” are expected to be taken up by the three secretaries in this second portion of the two-part panel discussions.

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will also be participating during the open forum to answer questions related to the reform agenda and infrastructure. 

An open forum will be held at the end of each panel discussion, with panel reactors from the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham), Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Philippines Inc. (JCCIPI), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), British Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (BCCP), Convergys, World Bank (WB), Citigroup and Standard Chartered Banking Group. 

The briefing will be hosted by DOF Assistant Secretary and Spokesperson Paola Alvarez from 2 PM to 5 PM via Zoom and will be live streamed via the Facebook pages of the DOF and BSP, as well as other government channels such as the Radio Television Malacañang (RTVM) of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO).

For more information, visit the DOF website at https://www.dof.gov.ph/.  (DOF)