Philippines Development Forum

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MANILA, FEBRUARY 26, 2011 — Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino said today that the country is committed to the goal of achieving inclusive growth and reiterated his resolve for “a transparent, accountable government, worthy of the people’s trust.”

“Our nation has always aspired for an economy where the growth powered by private enterprise is felt by a larger number of people,” said President Aquino at the close of the Philippines Development Forum (PDF), the first under his administration, where the Government discussed the new Philippine Development Plan (PDP 2011-2016). “In the seven months that I and my team have been in office, we have witnessed an upsurge of optimism in our economy. In a short span of time, we are fulfilling our promise to curb corruption and reduce poverty.”

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MEDIA RELEASE NO. 11/01

President Aquino To Address 2011 Philippines Development Forum

MANILA, FEBRUARY 24, 2011—President Benigno S. Aquino III will address the 2011 Philippines Development Forum (PDF) to be held Saturday, February 26 in Sofitel Philippine Plaza in Pasay City.

With the theme, "Implementing President Aquino’s Social Contract to Achieve Inclusive Growth," the forum will be hosted and chaired by the Philippine government and co-chaired by the World Bank.

This year’s meeting is the first under the administration of President Benigno S. Aquino III.

The PDF, which evolved from the Consultative Group Meetings of the past, has become a primary mechanism for facilitating dialogue among stakeholders on the country’s development agenda. It also serves as a venue for forging consensus and generating commitments and support among stakeholders on key actionable items in the government’s reform agenda.

Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima, Chair of the PDF, said that he is looking forward to a fruitful discussion and engagement with development partners and other stakeholders.

Secretary Purisima said, "The PDF gives the government a good opportunity to present our priorities so support from development partners can be aligned to these. This way, we can work in a more coordinated and targeted manner to provide greater prosperity to our people."

“This PDF is of special significance because it is the first under President Benigno Aquino’s administration,” said World Bank Country Director Bert Hofman, Co-Chair of the PDF. “We are keen to learn how the development community can support the Philippines Development Plan which operationalizes President Aquino’s Social Contract with the Filipino People.”

Scheduled to present the government’s Philippines Development Plan are Finance Secretary Purisima, Planning Secretary Cayetano Paderanga, Jr., Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman, and Budget Secretary Florencio Abad.

More than 200 participants from national government agencies, local government units, development partners community, private sector, civil society, and the academe are expected to attend.

INFORMAL ADVISORY 2:

Guidance for the upcoming 2011 Philippines Development Forum on February 26, 2011, Saturday, at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza, Pasay City:

a. Objective: The 2011 PDF will bring together high-level participants from Government and development partner organizations, and various selected stakeholders of the country to hear presentations and discuss the administration’s overall development agenda and priorities under the 2011-2016 Philippine Development Plan.

b. Theme/ Format: The 2011 PDF is expected to carry the theme of “Implementing President Aquino’s Social Contract to Achieve Inclusive Growth”. This year’s PDF will consist of all-plenary sessions and the first session will start at 9:00 a.m. (with registration open starting 8:00 a.m.), and end at around 4:30 p.m. As in previous PDFs, there will be no pledging session. Attendance of President Aquino is not yet confirmed at this time.

c. Development Partner Delegations: There is no prescribed limit or composition for the delegations, but as guidance, development partners may refer to their respective delegations at the last PDF, which can be seen at the PDF website: pdf.ph, under PDF 2008. The list of delegates should be sent to Usec. Lea de Leon of the Department of Finance (Fax No. 63-2-526-8474 or ldeleon@dof.gov.ph) with copy to Ms. Bei Zonaga of the World Bank Office in Manila (Fax No. 63-2-917-3050 or mzonaga@worldbank.org).

d. Participation of Other Stakeholders: In keeping with the concept of a broader stakeholder forum, the Government is inviting an expanded list of individuals from key stakeholders groups (Congress, private sector, local governments leagues, civil society, and academe) to participate in the PDF. Participation at the PDF of other stakeholders will be based on suggestions by the working groups. Each of the eight PDF working groups have been requested to provide a list of up to 10 other stakeholder participants (CSO/academe representatives) to be invited to the PDF. Cost of travel and accommodations, if any, of these participants would not be covered by the Government and should be covered by other funding sources, e.g., their respective organizations or other sponsors. IMPORTANT FOR PARTICIPANTS FROM CSO/ACADEME: Please note that due to the limited time and since some working groups have not yet submitted their list, the DOF has advised that individual invitation letters will not be sent to CSO/academe invitees anymore; instead, the working groups should advise those on their respective final lists of 10 to proceed to the Sofitel Philippine Plaza on February 26 and register early. Registration will start at 8:00 a.m. Only those whose names appear in the lists that were submitted to DOF and WB will be allowed to register and join the Forum.

e. Statements at the PDF: Given the format of the meeting, there will be no need for the working groups to prepare reports for the meeting, but would be welcome to circulate any written position papers that they are ready to share. Interventions during the discussions can also be made by working group representatives, but should be premised accordingly. The discussions at the PDF are expected to be more interactive, and so reading of formal statements by individual countries organizations will also not be expected, but statements could be shared in writing at the meeting if so desired. In order to ensure that all those who would like to speak will have a chance to do so, and per our practice in previous PDFs, it is requested that interventions/statements during the discussion period be limited to not more than 3 minutes per speaker. If there is enough time, a second/third round of comments can be taken, For those who would like to circulate written statements, please bring 300 copies with you to the meeting. There will be a table for all statements where participants can pick up their copies.

INFORMAL ADVISORY 1:

The Philippine Government through the Department of Finance (DOF), has advised that the 2011 Philippines Development Forum (PDF) will be held on Saturday, February 26, 2011 at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza, Pasay City.

It will be a one-day plenary event, with the discussions focused on the Philippines Development Plan and the Government Priorities. The GOP is considering doing the presentations on the GOP Priorities according to the Cabinet clusters. This approach would serve to align future PDF discussion with the clusters, and would help the working groups transition towards the Government cluster set-up which was discussed and positively received by the working groups last week. Hence, there will be no need for the working groups to report at the plenary on February 26, but would be welcome to share any written position papers that they are ready to share. The discussions will be more interactive, and so formal statements by individual countries/ organizations will also not be expected, but could be shared in writing at the meeting if so desired. The preliminary program will be posted.

The 2011 PDF will be formally announced through a Notice of Meeting to the World Bank Group's Board of Executive Directors, which will serve as the official invitation to the development partners. The Notice of Meeting will provide details on how, when and to whom to confirm participation, and will also be sent by e-mail to our local contacts and posted at the PDF website. Subsequent announcements on the PDF will be done by e-mail to the local country offices/contacts and through the PDF website

The Department of Finance will issue invitations to, and coordinate with, the other participants outside of the development partners community (representatives of local government leagues, CSO, private sector, and other government branches/agencies). For the CSO invitees, the DOF is requesting each working group to provide names of up to 10 CSO representatives that have been participating in their respective working groups and who they recommend to be invited to the PDF. Please provide these names and their contact information to Usec. de Leon (ldeleon@dof.gov.ph), copied to mzonaga@worldbank.org and lsangabriel@worldbank.org by no later than Monday, February 14.