DTI to present 6-year industrialization plan

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is set to present its industrialization direction for the next six years during its inaugural digital transformation congress this week.

The DTI’s Competitiveness and Innovation Group (DTI-CIG), in collaboration with the Board of Investments (BOI), will hold the first-ever Industrial Digital Transformation Congress (IDTC) on Dec. 6, where Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual will present the agency’s six-year industrialization direction

The event will bring together key stakeholders from the various industries, government and development organizations, and academe to tackle the DTI’s industrialization strategy and priorities in the next six years, and foster discussion on ways to further strengthen collaboration efforts to promote productivity, efficiency, and adaptability of the industries.

“With the advent of a new administration, the need to gather key stakeholders is primordial in order to apprise them of the DTI’s strategic priorities for industry development for the short and medium term,” the DTI said.

DTI said the Industrial Digital Transformation Congress would lay down and underscore our industrialization journey in the next six years, building on the initiatives and achievements in the last six years.

The event will highlight DTI’s priority clusters particularly the industrial, manufacturing, and transport (IMT), technology, media, and telecommunications (TMT), health and life sciences (HLS),and modern basic needs and resilient economy (MBNRE).

“DTI is pursuing a renewed industrial policy that is science, technology and innovation-(STI) driven. Through STI and the use of essential digital technologies, industries will be better positioned to transform, and to face competition in domestic and export markets. Dynamic industry ecosystems further serve as the foundation for generating quality jobs and investments, creating new products and services, improving environmental sustainability,”Pascual said.

Trade Undersecretary Rafaelita Aldaba said the congress highlights the DTI’s commitment to work with our industries and assist them become more innovative, competitive, and resilient by capitalizing on the recent scientific and technological breakthroughs.

“For the past six years, guided by our ‘Inclusive Innovation Industrial Strategy (i3S),’ we have worked hard in establishing a solid foundation upon which our industries could stand firm and shoulder to shoulder with their global counterparts. As we move forward, we remain anchored on our longstanding vision that growth and development must be for all Filipinos. It is in this vein that the DTI adopts a new approach that is driven by science, technology, and innovation to capacitate and prepare our industries and us for what lies ahead,” Aldaba said.

The one-day event aims to identify ways on how to maximize the opportunities for the industry clusters and  provide a venue for dialogue with industries/stakeholders on the mainstreaming of digital transformation in our industrial policy and discuss collaboration efforts to intensify our adoption of new technologies to promote innovative and resilient industries.

“While it cannot be denied that the pandemic has significantly altered the status quo that was once familiar to us, it has also made us realize that there are still a lot of stones left unturned; that we have yet to maximize our potential to the fullest; and that we can do more and there are better, more efficient ways of doing things.These are the reasons that prompted us to revisit our strategies to ensure that they are responsive to the demands of the time,” Aldaba said.

“These are the very inspirations that will keep the heart of our new industrial strategy beating, and us on course and unrelenting until we realize the goals that we have set for our industries. Finally, as we continue to march towards the brave new world of technological developments and new production systems, know that you can always rely on the DTI, your DTI,” she said.