MANILA: Following the decline in unemployment rate in December 2022, a business group believes that the downtrend in joblessness can be sustained by attracting more investments into the country.
During the Laging Handa public briefing Friday, Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) president Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr. welcomed the 4.2-percent unemployment rate in December 2022, which is the lowest in 17 years since April 2005.
Ortiz-Luis lauded the government’s efforts to attract investments in the country, especially foreign investors.
He said the decision to put up and expand their businesses in the Philippines will create more jobs for Filipinos.
Ortiz-Luis said the recent foreign trips of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. are expected to create more business activities and generate employment.
“At ang gobyerno naman ay napakaganda ng ginagawa ng gobyerno ngayon na nag-i-encourage ng investment (What the government is doing is good, the current government is encouraging investments),” the ECOP chief said.
Ortiz-Luis said these investments will help the country to avert impacts of external economic headwinds, such as a possible recession in major markets like the United States and Europe.
“Hopeful ako na we will be spared from that dahil maganda ang direction ng ating pamahalaan ngayon (I am hopeful that we will be spared from that (recession) because of the good direction of our current government),” he added.
Marcos arrived in Manila on Thursday from his state visit to China where he secured investment pledges from Chinese firms amounting to USD22.8 billion.
Majority of these investment commitments are in the renewable energy sector, electric vehicles, mineral processing and agribusiness.
Source: Philippines News Agency
