Villar to tap more foreign investors to generate jobs

Nacionalista Party standard-bearer Manny Villar assures the Filipinos that he will market the Philippines worldwide in order to lure foreign investments that will create jobs for Filipinos.

Conceding that the country needs more investors to help bring down the unemployment rate, Villar said he would give incentives to foreign investors, provided that they would generate employment for Filipinos in their businesses.

"There will be incentives to foreign companies that will invest in labor intensive industries," he said in a recent radio interview.

He also cited the importance of upgrading the country's agricultural sector to create jobs and improve the lives of those below the poverty line.

Villar and his party have likewise been advocating entrepreneurship in all aspects of society as another strategy to address unemployment.

He said this can be achieved if the youth in secondary and tertiary schools will be educated on the values and technical intricacies of entrepreneurial ventures.

He also underscored the need to develop in our people an appreciation of the benefits of having one's own business, and to promote livelihood programs and provide the means to acquire the necessary skills.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), including micro-enterprises, account for 99 percent of all businesses and 60 percent of the exporting firms in the Philippines.

Data from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) shows that SMEs currently employ about 55 percent of the labor force and contribute 30 percent of total domestic sales volume.

On another issue, the NP standard-bearer said he will help all Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who are longing to get home.

If he wins the presidency, Villar said his administration will exhaust all efforts to help distressed Filipino migrant workers who are confronted with various problems abroad.

"Pababalikin natin sa Pilipinas ang mga OFWs na naghihintay sa abroad para makauwi sa atin. May malalaki silang problema--walang pamasahe, hindi makalabas ng kulungan," related Villar who said he wanted to be remembered by Filipinos and described in Philippine History books as the "president that turned around his country."

He said the country's state has been going down, and he dreams to overturn this trend, and make a turn-around in the economy to help the majority of Filipinos rise from poverty.