Press Release
September 13, 2012

BOOST S&T DEV'T TO IMPROVE PHL COMPETITIVENESS - ANGARA

Senator Edgardo J. Angara underscored the importance of investing in the country's human capital to achieve continued progress and development, as a panelist at the recent IBM Philippines Think Forum.

The forum brought together prominent leaders from the government, the academe and the private sector for a collaborative discussion on leadership, education and innovation as enablers of growth for the Philippines.

"The potential of the Philippines has never been greater. We have the demographic advantage of a young population - a highly educable pool of young people, a pretty good source of human capital," said Angara, Chair of the Senate Committee on Education, Arts and Culture.

"If we make sure that our students get skills meant for high-value S&T jobs, then we really lay down the foundations for breakthrough growth."

Angara then cited the most recent Global Competitiveness Report by the World Economic Forum, where the Philippines jumped 10 notches higher to rank 65th among 144 countries.

"65th out of 144 is a pretty good improvement. In fact, we are one of the few countries who managed a leap in the double digits. But in the context of the ASEAN, we are still lagging behind Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore."

The former UP President explained that we are still spending much less than our counterparts in Southeast Asia for improving our education and boosting our science and technology (S&T).

"Sadly, our technological capacity is still weak because of underspending in this sector," lamented Angara, who also heads the Senate Committee on Science and Technology. "Only through S&T can we leapfrog in development."

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