ANZCHAM gives buoyant outlook on Duterte’s term

The Australian-New Zealand Chamber of Commerce Philip­pines (ANZCHAM) expressed optimism on the capability of the Duterte administration to imple­ment programs that would fur­ther boost domestic growth.

In an interview at the side­lines of the gala dinner held as the culmination activity for the year-long celebration of the 70th anniversary of Australia-Phil­ippines diplomatic relations, ANZCHAM president Tom Gre­aly said he does not believe in the political noise criticizing the Duterte administration and instead relies of the country’s economy fundamentals.

He said debt rater Moody’s Investors Service has came out with a positive assessment on the current administration’s 10-point economic agenda, which he said ANZCHAM sup­ports.

Thus, his belief that the po­litical noise is “what most people have concluded but it’s not.”

“The key is to get that 10-point plan implemented. Moody’s noted that the Presi­dent has enormous political cap­ital and how he chooses to use that is what’s important now,” he said.

“As the president of the country, your country, he (Pres­ident Duterte) can do what he wants but we’d love to see him put those efforts on those 10point agenda. And to open up the economy and to drive jobs,” he said.

The Duterte administration’s 10-point program is an enhance­ment of the previous administra­tion’s economic plans eyed to sustain the above six percent trend growth of the Philippines economy.

Grealy said that since do­mestic fundamentals remain strong, the issue is whether the government can implement its economic program or not and whether government agencies have improved on their absorp­tive capacity.

“I’m very optimistic about the Philippines. I’m very opti­mistic about opportunities on business,” he said.

He noted that “the eco­nomic team in this administra­tion is incredibly purposeful.”

“People who have been around, observing the Philip­pines, talk about this as the most purposeful, fastest mov­ing, most driven economic team seen in any administra­tion. And you can feel it,” he said.

“You can feel that they got a big agenda, that they’re seri­ous. They are here to strut their stuff to hit the job,” he added.