New York City — The Philippine Consulate General in New York organized a town hall meeting featuring Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Director-General Ernesto M. Pernia on April 3, 2019 at the Philippine Center in New York.
Secretary Pernia presented the Philippine economy’s recent performance and prospects for the medium- and long-term period, emphasizing the goals of providing Filipinos with a “matatag, maginhawa, at panatag na buhay” (strongly rooted, comfortable, and peaceful life).
The Secretary cited that the Philippines is among the fastest growing major economies in Asia, with 6.2 percent gross domestic product growth for 2018. He likewise discussed the impact of increased public infrastructure spending for 2017-2022, citing that this will have an accumulative effect of a 4.6 percent increase in GDP and will generate 660,000 additional jobs for Filipinos.
The meeting was attended by members of the Filipino-American community, business groups, and Filipino-American media. The discussion was livestreamed through Facebook with viewers from Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey participated during the open forum.
Secretary Pernia and Undersecretary Juan Antonio A. Perez III of the Commission on Population, who answered questions relating to population, are in New York for the 52nd Session of the Commission Population and Development at the United Nations Headquarters.
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For more information, visit www.newyorkpcg.dfa.gov.ph,
www.newyorkpcg.org or https://www.facebook.com/PHLinNY/.
