President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. emphasized the need of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to create a sustainable, human-centered future in a post-COVID-19 era.
According to Marcos, nations cannot accomplish economic advancement on their own.
“We, as ASEAN, must promote a people-oriented and people-centered recovery and development pathway beyond the Covid-19 pandemic,” Marcos said in his intervention during the 2nd ASEAN Global Dialogue in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Marcos announced his administration’s Medium-Term Fiscal Program and the future Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028, which comprise aims and strategic activities of government agencies over the next six years, citing efforts in the Philippines to aid socioeconomic recovery.
He boasted that the country’s GDP will expand by 5.7 percent in 2021, with an average growth rate of 7.8 percent in the first half of 2022.
“These numbers are welcome indicators. They show that our recovery is proving to be robust and that we are returning to our original growth trajectory prior to the crisis,” he said.
He expressed confidence that the Philippines is prepared to deal with the threats posed by the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the devastation caused by natural disasters, which have resulted in sharp and persistent inflationary pressures on food, transportation, and energy.
“I am quite optimistic that we have started along the path to recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic and the attendant problems in our economy,” he added.
