President Marcos says the Philippines must take advantage of new technologies to address issues such as connectivity, climate change, and cybersecurity so the country can remain resilient amid global uncertainties.

Marcos said this in an interview on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Forum (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting in San Francisco on Thursday, Nov. 16 (Manila time).

According to the President, the digital era comes with issues the country must address and opportunities the Philippines must take advantage of.

"There are the, shall we say, more expected issues that come about with the digital era coming into our workplaces, into our homes, and basically everything that we do. That presents great opportunities, in my view," he said.

"The digital space is still very much open, and I think there are very grand opportunities for the Philippines in that regard," he added.

To start, President Marcos said the government must give the large majority of the population access to the Internet. It must also ensure that the systems are structured to make access to the Internet something of value.

He acknowledged that the government must still play a vital part in related areas, such as cybersecurity.

"These are the areas that we see, but the nuts and bolts of the economy still come down to infrastructure. When we talk about infrastructure now, it's no longer just physical infrastructure; it includes digital infrastructure. That is where we have really put a great deal of emphasis on," Marcos said.

"The aspiration is to transform the economy so that we are well-positioned to take advantage of new technologies and also to be able to face challenges such as climate change," he added.

Climate change

Meanwhile, President Marcos said climate change remains part of the discussion in developing other sectors, such as energy and water supply.

"Any discussion of development within that sector always ends up including climate change. That seems to be the basis on which we have to act for the future, on which we have to design our systems," he said.

"We have to keep climate change in mind. The Philippines has it very much as a top-of-mind issue simply because we have been adjudged to have the dubious distinction of being one of the most vulnerable countries when it comes to the effects of climate change," he added.

Collaboration

According to Marcos, the government has adopted a very simple approach to address issues — public-private partnerships (PPPs).

"It has to be a partnership. The partnership has to extend not only between the public and private sectors. We call it the whole-of-government approach," he said.

"Every resource that we have available must be put to work to try and bring us as quickly as possible to that transformation that I speak about," he added.

In addition to local partnerships, President Marcos highlighted the importance of alliances with foreign partners to overcome challenges.

"That brings us beyond just the pure economic considerations because now there are now political and diplomatic considerations because these partnerships are now essential," he said.

"The economy is truly global. We must view everything that we do in that context. The partnerships and alliances that we make are going to be the, shall we say, stabilizers in these very unstable times," he added.