Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and NEDA Director-General Romulo L. Neri, during the Philippine Mid-Year Economic Briefing, stressed the need to generate more investments to create jobs and increase infrastructure spending in the medium-term. These investments, he said, will complement the government’s increased spending for its core infrastructure investment program until 2010.

Secretary Neri also said investments are also crucial for science and technology and tourism sectors. The Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) reports that the country’s expenditure in research and development (R&D) is less than the standard one percent of GDP which is recommended by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for developing countries. On the other hand, employment generated from the tourism sector is expected to increase to six million between 2000 and 2010.

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