The Philippine private sector expressed confidence the domestic economy can pull through despite weak peso and rising prices of commodities.
In her comment at the Philippine Economic Briefing in Singapore, Teresita Sy-Coson, vice chair of SM Investments Corp., cited the country’s monetary policy and the financial policies as “very stable.”
This makes the private sector “very confident about the economic team and the present administration.”
“In spite of the inflation rate and as well as the depreciation (of the peso), we're still very much okay and you don't hear a lot of complaints on many areas in the private sector. So we're confident that we're all together toward a better economic future in the Philippines,” Sy-Coson added.
As a company which has been investing in the economic future of the Philippines, she emphasized that SM Investments has been existence for about 60 years.
“We grow as the economy grows. So we are very focused on t the different areas that the government is working on,” she said.
Sy-Coson further encouraged more investments in micro, small and medium enterprises which have been fueling the economy.
She attributed the thriving MSMEs in the country to the lack of foreign direct investment, noting “The way I see it, has been made up of a lot of small and medium industry and especially the micro ones, and they are the ones which have been supplying the jobs among themselves.”
With that she encouraged foreign businessmen to invest in the Philippines considering the country’s huge population of over 100 million.
Although the Philippines does not experience hunger, Sy-Coson told foreign investors, "We have a high percentage of poverty. We have been able to maintain that because of the micro businesses and that has sustained a lot of jobs... the owners are providing jobs themselves and that includes part of the agriculture,” Sy-Coson said.
Sy-Coson believes the Philippines will see a faster rise to the middle class status and mass affluence as gleaned on SM Investments’ own operations in retail through its malls and banking where it offers microfinance and salary loans.
“If the economy does well, it will cascade down to more purchasing power. That will, of course, impact our business positively." she said.
To the foreign investors, Sy-Coson said "There are a lot of things that one can do in the Philippines.”