Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual brims with confidence as head of the Department of Trade and Industry after securing the nod from the influential Commission on Appointments last Wednesday.
During a press conference and thanksgiving lunch on Thursday, he expressed relief after going through a tough confirmation process, in which he was bypassed twice.
“I was thankful that I got confirmed because that means that I do not have to spend time talking to people and collaborating with organizations even though I was not sure yet that I’ll get the confirmation.
Sometimes, I am concerned about that,” he said.
He added that with the CA’s imprimatur, another vista was opened to him to pursue the mission “that I have set for my term here in DTI and the things that I want to accomplish.”
Apart from lawmakers, Pascual said he discovered that more than 60 business groups backed his confirmation as DTI chief.
Pascual said he remains proud to be part of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s economic team, as many wanted to serve, but the opportunity was not given to all.
Pascual stressed that he would continue to work on bringing in more investments and push for ease of doing business in the country to create jobs, develop and balance the country’s export and import market, and push for the ratification of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, among others.
Onward to progress
“Together, we march ahead and work toward our country’s robust economic expansion. We have begun and will now reinforce our efforts to build dynamic and strong industries through science, technology, and innovation. This way, our industries will be better positioned to transform and compete in domestic and export markets. In turn, they can create more quality jobs for our people,” he said.
He also highlighted the country’s game-changing reforms that usher in an investment-led economy that generates greater income opportunities for more Filipinos.
“We shall continue to enhance the Philippines’ investment climate. We advance with more attractive incentives for investors, with reinforced ease of doing business. We will leverage our existing industrial strengths and competencies and adopt Industry 4.0 technologies to build dynamic industry ecosystems,” he said.
For the micro, small and medium enterprises being the backbone of the country’s economy, he said the DTI will endeavor to expand support and enable them to be more productive, modern, and successful, especially in the new digital economy.
“The foundation of our country’s resilient, sustainable, and inclusive economic growth rests on fulfilling Filipinos’ basic needs,” Pascual noted.
I appreciate the constructive feedback from the CA and members of Congress as regards the compelling challenges related to the prices of goods, commodities, and other products. I am dedicating my best to lead DTI in responding to such challenges. We shall further embark on developing the country’s agribusinesses, clean energy efforts, and infrastructure for business and trade,” he added.
He also thanked his undersecretaries and assistant secretaries, and his management team, for providing him the guidance to be familiarized with the DTI situation quickly.
“I thanked also the members of the media who have also been supportive in reporting what we are doing and achieved in the meantime but we hope we will be able to provide you with much more substantive things to report as we accelerate to implement our plans, as the role of media is very crucial to what the government is doing and to maintain the level of trust that we need for us to push our programs,”