Go Negosyo Founder Jose Ma. "Joey" Concepcion III expects to see lower prices of commodities by middle this year middle with prices of oil going down, paving for a “very good” 2023.

In a television interview, Concepcion said that the increased interest rate imposed by the US and followed by other countries like the Philippines last year and early this year to tame inflation is bearing fruit although prices cannot really be rolled back because of the high interest cost.

“But I expect that by the middle of this year, we should see lower prices,” he said citing prices of oil are going down. Hopefully, he said, this will result in lower prices of wheat and sugar and other commodities.

Lower inflation rate, he said, will take time towards the end of this year.

“But this is still a very good year,” Concepcion added as he noted that the pandemic crisis is not going to get any worse.

This means, he said, more people are going out and demand is going back as “we go back to a normal situation.”

Meantime, Concepcion justified President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. foreign trips stressing that it is important for the president as CEO of the country, the Philippine Inc., to be visible before foreign investors. Marcos embarked on his 8th foreign trip last week to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.

According to Concepcion, the private sector is “solidly behind” the presidents’ programs in pushing the country forward.

“So, we need the Filipino people who are the shareholders to understand the game plan and the game plan is create more jobs by bringing in more investors, not only money, but technology,” he said.

Concepcion, who is the lead in jobs and medium, small, and micro enterprises (MSMEs) of the council of businessmen and corporate executives under the Private Sector Advisory Council of the President, said that MSMEs will benefit from the President’s foreign trip, particularly the WEF.

Foremost, he said MSMEs will benefit in terms of digitalization. He noted that WEF gathers the world’s largest digital entrepreneurs including Elon Musk and Bill Gates, among others.

“We have to attract them to come to the Philippines to invest and to bring their platforms here as digitalization is the key now,” he noted.

So far, he said, Concepcion added that MSMEs are learning to market in digital platforms to bring their products to a larger market place.