Digital transformation initiatives will help boost more economic activities in the country, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said on Friday.
Mr. Marcos issued the statement as he led the digital ribbon-cutting ceremony for the inauguration of the UnionBank Innovation Campus in the City of San Pedro, Laguna.
“The initiatives that we have, such as (what) UnionBank is doing with this campus that we have just inaugurated today, that we have just opened today, are precisely the kind of innovations, the kind of forward-thinking operations and actions that we will need, not only in the private sector but also in the public sector,” he said in his keynote speech.
Mr. Marcos emphasized the need to take advantage of digital innovations to generate more jobs and revive the country’s economy.
The government, as a participant in the “new digital world,” would seek collaboration with the private sector to make public transactions easier and more convenient, he said.
Mr. Marcos said the government’s digital adoption complements the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) three-year Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap that promotes cashless payments.
The roadmap has the twin objectives of converting at least 50 percent of the total retail transaction volume into digital form, and the onboarding of 70 percent of adult Filipinos to the formal financial system by 2023.
In other developments, the House of Representatives committee on appropriations on Friday asked the DICT to lower the cost of Internet subscription and increase Internet speed for Filipino consumers.
“The pandemic has shown us that the Internet has become a vital element in our lives—from food orders and medical consultations to online classes and businesses to entertainment. Halos lahat ng aspeto ng buhay natin ay online na,” Ako Bicol Rep. Elizaldy Co, the panel’s chairman, said during the budget hearing Friday.
As of January 2021, an estimated 74 million Filipinos are digitally connected.
Co noted that at the macro level, Internet connectivity is also vital to the country’s survival and growth. “In fact our very survival as a globally competitive nation is dependent upon our ability to establish a viable digital network,” Co said.
China meanwhile said it sees increased opportunities to work with the Philippines on building stronger digital economies.
“We are full of confidence and expectations for the development of the digital economy in the Philippines. We will encourage more Chinese internet companies to invest in the Philippines, and hope to see Chinese and Philippine internet companies strengthen cooperation and healthy competition,” Bai Xun of the Embassy’s Economic and Commercial Office said at the September 8 China (Fujian)-Philippines Economic and Trade Promotion Cooperation Conference in Parañaque City.
Bai said China-Philippines relations are entering a “new era” as reflected in the “close contact” between President Xi Jinping and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. continue.
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