Palace welcomes favorable EU, IMF reports on PHL

MANILA—Malacañang on Tuesday welcomed a European Union (EU) report citing the Philippines as among the top favorite of European investors in the ASEAN region.

In a Palace press briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said that according to European Union-ASEAN Business Council Executive Director Chris Humphrey, the Philippines is one of the favorites among the ASEAN countries preferred by European companies as investment destination.

“The EU-ASEAN Business Council said the Philippines is foreseen to further enhance the European interest due to the country’s young population, increasingly liberal trade and investment policies and largely untapped market,” Abella said.

The Palace official said the EU report is a big boost to President Rodrigo Duterte’s promise to create a million jobs each year.

“To deliver its promise to create 1.2 million jobs annually, the Duterte administration will attract more foreign investments, increase infrastructure spending, ease the cost of doing business in the Philippines, and continuously develop its human resource,” Abella said.

Jobs to be created include those in construction, information and technology, business-process management, tourism, manufacturing, transport and logistics, agri-processing industry, and retail trade.

Malacañang likewise welcomed an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report commending Philippine monetary policy.

“We welcome the commendation from the IMF mission team regarding the Philippine monetary policies, which are supportive of domestic expansion,” Abella said in the same briefing.

“It (IMF) took note of the comprehensive tax reform program (CTRP) as among those that contributed to the strengthening of the country’s monetary transmission and reduction of concentration risks in the banking sector, among others,” he said.

“Also, continuing and maintaining the current macroeconomic policies is part of the 10-point socioeconomic agenda,” Abella said.