We welcome the publication of the 13th edition of the Global Innovation Index on September 1, which shows the country jump by four places from last year’s ranking of 54th to breach the list of top 50 innovator among the 131 economies this year.
The report cited the Philippines as a country whose performance exceeds expectations for its level of economic development and whose innovation ranking has significantly progressed over the last ten years alongside China, Vietnam, and India.
This attests to the effective collaborative work of government agencies and other stakeholders in harnessing the power of innovation in driving the Philippines’ inclusive, sustainable, and dynamic economy.
This international recognition affirms the success of our national innovation policy and highlights our country’s solid economic fundamentals.
The Philippines continues to leverage, improve, and invest in research and development, digitalization, and human resources, consistently giving importance to our economic competitiveness and innovativeness.
Aligned with this agenda, we deem it necessary to create an atmosphere of innovation conducive to the development of a healthy ecosystem of businesses, regulators, and innovators, hence, the current Administration has signed two landmark acts: the Innovative Startup Act, which seeks to foster an innovative entrepreneurial culture in the Philippines, and the Philippine Innovation Act, which creates a cross-sectoral National Innovation Council and introduces the use of metrics like the GII as an objective tool for tracking progress.
The country’s strengthened framework for innovation governance, as recognized by its improved ranking in the GII, is expected to sustain the momentum for growth and anchor prospects for sound economic recovery in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and to contribute to the government’s overall goal of uplifting the lives of millions of Filipinos.
Inspired by its performance in the GII, the Philippines will continue to provide an enabling and nurturing environment for innovators, including MSMEs, and further enhance its partnership with international organizations such as the World Intellectual Property Organization, in line with the Duterte administration’s development agenda.
