The national government aims to have the Industry Development Council (IDC) up and running by the first quarter of 2014, according to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). In her presentation at a forum on Friday, DTI Industrial Policy Department Industry Development Group Director Ma. Corazon Halili-Dichosa said the revival of the IDC is one of the major plans of the DTI to improve the country`s competitiveness in manufacturing. Dichosa said the revival of the IDC will complement the government`s goals to help the motor vehicles/auto parts, apparel, footwear, travel goods, and consumer electronics sectors recover. She said the DTI also aims to revisit backbone sectors such as the iron and steel, petrochemical, copper-based finished products and chemical sectors. This plan will also be complemented by the aim of the DTI to develop new revenue streams particularly in the creative industries and mineral-processing sectors. Further, Dichosa said the DTI aims to sustain the growth in major revenue streams such as electronic services or the information technology-business-process outsourcing sector, semiconductors and shipbuilding, as well as pursue countryside growth. Countryside growth, she explained, means focusing on agriculture-based industries, fishery, tourism and infrastructure sectors. These are the same sectors that the Aquino administration intends to prioritize because of their labor-intensive nature. Dichosa also said the revival of the IDC will complement the various industry road maps that the DTI and members of the industry sector will be launching in the second week of July this year.
