MANILA: President Aquino yesterday vowed to nurture every Filipino’s talent and support local industries to maintain their global competitiveness, and to level the domestic economic playing field.
In a speech delivered at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza where he was guest speaker at the 8th East Asia Conference on Competition and Policy, the Chief Executive underscored the need to be competitive, so that every skill reaches its maximum potential.
Aquino mentioned the end of crony capitalism that was prevalent during the 20-year martial law rule, when cronies of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos got the juicy contracts with the government.
“As a student of economics, I know that monopolies are incredibly inefficient. It kills innovation.
“There is zero impetus in a monopoly to continually improve your product or your service, simply because you have your market cornered,” Aquino said.
The President explained that such setup would obviously reap its expected rewards by way of a “flourishing” monopoly, but only in the short-term where “profits may even be astronomic,” which would become “ill-equipped when the time comes that they actually have to compete.”
“It guarantees against a level playing field where competition can bring out the best in companies and people,” Aquino added, citing as an example the globalised nature now where “the lack of a healthy competitive landscape is simply untenable and could spell any democratic country’s doom.”
Aquino also told delegates the event was timely as his administration has always been an advocate of stiff competition and a level playing field in the market.
“Competition is vital to the growth of any nation. In fact, it is vital to the growth of the world economy, and even to the technological breakthroughs that have, time and again, pushed human civilization into its next great age,” the President told delegates.
The Philippine star
