The Aquino administration has to lay down a new industrial policy to achieve inclusive growth, according to a Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PIDS) study. PIDS senior research fellow Rafaelita Aldaba, who authored the study, recommended industrial policy reforms that will enhance the country`s firm productivity, deepen linkages of domestic firms and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with large domestic and multinational companies, and gain more investment inflows. "This is to capitalize on the rapidly changing global conditions wherein emerging economies like the Philippines are becoming key players as the United States, European Union, and Japan continue to face slower growth," Aldaba said. She noted the need for the revival of the manufacturing sector to attain more inclusive and sustained growth. The sector`s weak performance is seen from its low contribution to employment, investment, and productivity growth. Manufacturing growth averaged 0.9 percent and 2.5 percent in the 1980s and 1990s, respectively, before picking up to 4.1 percent in 2000.
New industrial policy needed for inclusive growth, PIDS study says
