The latest assessment of the Arangkada (“Accelerate”) Philippines advocacy of the Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines showed that, of 462 rated recommendations, last year saw:

• 21 or 4.55% completed, compared to 19 or 4.11% in 2013;

• 117 or 25.32% with “substantial progress” compared to 2013’s 94 or 20.35%;

• 193 or 41.77% “started”, compared to 213 or 46.10% the previous year;

• 88 or 19.05% “not ongoing”, against 2013’s 94 or 20.35%;

• 27 or 5.84% that were “backward” or showed “regression”, against 26 or 5.63% previously; and

• 16 or 3.46% that were “no longer relevant”, compared to 2013’s 17 or 3.68%.

The same assessment noted that 331 recommendations, or 74.22%, were “active/moving” against 2013’s 326 or 73.26%, while 115 others or 25.78% were “dormant”, compared to 119 or 26.74% previously.

“Last year (2013), 73% of the total (recommendations) were active; this year (covering 2014) is about the same: about three-quarters of the total are active,” John D. Forbes, senior advisor of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, said in a press briefing during a break in the forum at Makati Shangri-La hotel.

“To business groups, this is good news but not good enough, as there is more to be done,” Mr. Forbes said.

In his speech during the forum, Makati Business Club Chairman Ramon R. Del Rosario, Jr. said: “We have much work ahead not only to institutionalize our gains, but also to fully realize the vast potentials that are now within our reach.”

“The Aquino administration is now entering the homestretch of its term. There are now only 16 months remaining to institutionalize much-needed, long-overdue reforms that will ensure that the considerable gains of the last four-and-a-half years will not be reversed.”

Mr. Del Rosario also flagged emergent risks to progress, including uncertainty hounding Mindanao’s peace process in the wake of the bloody Jan. 25 clash between government and Moro rebel troops, as well as smooth implementation of major infrastructure projects after their contracts have been awarded.

Sought for comment, Henry J. Schumacher, executive vice-president of the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, noted slowing progress in addressing recommendations, saying: “There are easy things, there are difficult things, then there are super difficult things. The easy things were easy to achieve. So we are getting now to the complicated areas.”

Ian W. Porter, president of the Australian-New Zealand Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, said in the press briefing: “Where the real investment is required is... obviously in infrastructure, manufacturing and, in particular, agribusiness where little is taking place.”

National Competitiveness Council Co-chairman Guillermo M. Luz said in his speech: “Even with a government that does more things right than... wrong, it has barely moved... in poverty incidence... We need to continue momentum here and, in fact, increase it.” 

Source: Business World