Future of Philippines is in its human resource: Binay

Manila: The Philippines should take advantage of its greatest resource, Vice President Jejomar Binay said in a speech he delivered on Friday before members of foreign news agencies.

Speaking before members of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP), Binay said the best way for the country to prepare for the future is to develop its resources and the greatest if this is human resource.

"The global economic breakdown, which began in 2008 in the United States and Europe, has caused an irresistible shift of economic power—soft power—from the West to the East, from the Atlantic to the Asia Pacific. We must benefit from that shift," Binay said in a speech during the annual "Prospect for the Philippines Forum."

Based on studies by foreign private finance institutions, the future holds bright promise for the country. The global research department of HSBC predicts that the Philippines will leapfrog 27 places to become the world's 16th largest economy by 2050.

Binay said the country's young population, which economists in the past had said will be the country's disadvantage, will instead by its plus given where are equipped with the necessary training.

"Demography is destiny…By 2050 there will be more 65-year-olds and above than 15-year-olds and below in the developed world. The demographic winter will have become a full blown and undeniable reality in Europe, Russia, Japan and most of the developed world.

"The Philippines, with its younger workforce and its dynamic and still renewing population equipped with knowledge and technical skill, will have every unimpeded opportunity to forge ahead, without demographic problems of the west," the Vice President said.

Binay said given the resources, it is up for leaders of the country to maximise these advantage to secure the country's future.

He said the Philippines needs to protect and safeguard its population against the dangers that brought about the irreversible decline of the West. "We need to invest in our families, in the education, training, and health care especially of our youth and women; we need to equip them with sufficient skills and work habits to give them a big competitive edge in the global market."

"Tourism and information technology are only two of the primary industries we must develop to sustain our development and growth. But these two alone can create enough new and highly paying jobs to keep our best men and women with their families here rather than abroad, and put us head to head with our neighbours who are already far ahead of us in these fields. We only need to be single-minded in creating our own advantage," he said.

Aside from Binay, Budget and Management Secretary Florencio Abad also took part in the forum.