President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said Tuesday that the Philippines must keep up with its economic neighbors in terms of digitalization as he believes that the Asian region would soon become the driver of the global economy.
At the Telco Summit in Pasay City, Marcos told telecommunication players that "we have to move quickly" to ensure connectivity across the country. He made the pronouncement as he noted the ever-changing digital infrastructure, which was prompted especially by the Covid-19 pandemic.
"Whatever the system is appropriate, we need to explore it and we need to apply it," he said, adding the Philippines must "compete properly" with its neighbors from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).
"And to do that, we must be at the very least at the same level of digitalization as they are. Right now, we are not quite there but let us work hard at it," he added.
The President then encouraged relevant government agencies and the private sector partners to ensure that efforts of the government will be implemented, strengthened and translated into a more efficient delivery of services.
"As daily consumers of information and technology, we must learn to capitalize with this sector, in order to be more productive in ways we can only imagine. It is my hope that this summit will serve as an avenue to break barriers amongst regulating agencies," he said.
Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA), the lead agency for the Telco Summit 2022, is an attached agency under the Office of the President that is mandated to implement Republic Act 11032 or the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018.
The summit, entitled "Open Data. Open Innovation. One Nation.", was in line with Marcos' directive to improve the country's digital infrastructure and connectivity.
During the event, regulating agencies, private stakeholders, and other experts discussed the pressing issues in the said sector.