President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo commended today the country’s business sector for the assistance it extended the government in the relief and rehabilitation work.

“My heartfelt thanks to to the members of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), its provincial and regional chapters, and its other affiliate business chambers for their assistance to the victims of typhoons “Ondoy” and “Pepeng,” the President said at the 35th Philippine Business Conference) PBC and Expo at the Manila Hotel this afternoon.  The President asked PCCI and its members to help the government cope with the increasing frequency and intensity of typhoons due to climate change. On the economy as a whole, the Pesident acknowledged the role played by business to propel the Philippines into the ranks of emerging economies in the region.

“Now, we are considered a front liner among the emerging economies not only of Asia but of the world, and no longer the sickly economy of the region,” the President said. “The day that I addressed the emerging markets conference of The Economist in London last month, we were recognized as one of the top emerging markets in the world.”

According to the President the business sector made huge contributions to the government’s effort to implement difficult but necessary fiscal reforms. “I was fortunate to have most of the PCCI on my side. You and the Executive branch and brave souls in Congress pushed for these reforms. We implemented some of the toughest fiscal and financial reforms in our history. They became the building blocks for 34 quarters of uninterrupted economic growth.

“In other words, with these reforms, we have tamed the boom and bust cycle that had plagued our economy for generations,” the President said. The President enjoined the business community to continue its partnership with government on the three E’s: Economy, Education, and Environment.

She also lauded the PCCI for its work to improve industry-academe linkages, upgrade the college curriculum, and develop skills, all to address the long-term jobs-skills mismatch. Since 2001, the President said, she has known that the growth sectors would be tourism, information and communication technology, and other skills-intensive sectors. She added that she has acted accordingly on that realization.

She said confidence in our economy is indicated by the net inflow of $200 billion investment in the first semester of the year, in sharp contrast to the negative outflow at the height of the global crisis last year. Now, the President said, even the hard-hit export manufacturing is showing signs of recovery on a month-to-month basis.

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