President Aquino has issued Executive Order No. 44 in a bid to improve the Philippines’ competitiveness and strengthen its industries.

Aquino, through EO 44, renamed the Public-Private Sector Task Force on Philippine Competitiveness created by President Gloria Arroyo on Oct. 5, 2006, as the National Competitiveness Council (NCC) and expanded its membership to include more agencies and private sector representatives.

He also removed the NCC from the Office of the President and attached it to the trade department. He said the council should report to the Cabinet cluster on economic development.

Government has expressed concern about the Philippines’ competitiveness after it slipped from 39th to 41st place in the 2011 World Competitiveness Yearbook released by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) last May 18.

The survey showed the Philippines ranking poorly in foreign direct investments, basic education and basic infrastructure, and scientific infrastructure. However, the country performed well in terms of worker skills, number of females in top management posts, labor productivity, and labor market efficiency.

The IMD has suggested that the Philippines concentrate on lowering the cost of doing business and focusing on access to basic education, scientific infrastructure, energy, transportation, value chain, and infrastructure.

Aquino said he wants to raise the competitiveness ranking of the Philippines and strengthen its industry and the agriculture and service sectors, create jobs and increase income as the country moves up the value chain.

"There is an urgent need to demonstrate our country’s commitment towards enhancing our competitiveness and upgrading our competitiveness ranking," he said.

He said the NCC shall promote and develop national competitiveness strategies and push for the implementation of the Action Agenda for Competitiveness, and link it to the Philippine Development Plan (PDP).

The NCC will be chaired by the trade secretary, with a private sector representative as co-chair. Its members will be the secretaries of education, energy, finance, planning, and tourism, and five private sector representatives.

The old NCC did not include the energy and tourism secretaries and it had only three private sector representatives. However, the new NCC no longer has the transportation secretary as its member.

Under EO 44, the NCC shall serve as the main collection point of investor issues on industry, services and agricultural sectors and shall advise the President on policy matters affecting the competitiveness of the business sector.

The NCC is also expected to provide inputs to the Philippine Development Plan, Philippine Investments Priority Plan, and the Philippine Exports Priority Plan, and recommend to Congress, through the Economic Development Cluster, proposed legislations that may contribute to competitiveness.

It will coordinate with local government units and concerned agencies to ensure that policies, standards, plans and budgets support the action agenda. It will also regularly coordinate with industry/trade associations and local and foreign chambers of commerce to ensure the competitiveness of Philippine industries.

The trade department’s Center for Industrial Competitiveness was tasked to be the NCC secretariat and was given an initial budget of P5 million from the President’s contingency fund for its operational expenses.

original source: Malaya Business Insight