Sen. Win Gatchalian on Wednesday called on the government to fast-track the establishment of a comprehensive policy framework on innovation – an initiative that a recent study has identified as critical to achieving the country’s long-term growth and development targets under the AmBisyon Natin 2040 socioeconomic plan.
In a report published earlier this month, titled ‘Asian Development Outlook 2017: Transcending the Middle Income Challenge’, the Asian Development Bank highlighted innovation as one of the keys to helping Asian middle-income economies achieve high-income status.
“The noble vision of a high-income Philippine economy embodied by AmBisyon Natin 2040 can only be realized if we take coordinated steps to build a thriving and inclusive national innovation superstructure. Realizing our economic potential as a people will depend largely upon our ability to develop and maintain an innovative, strategic, and adaptive economy that is fully capable of sustaining inclusive growth over the next couple of decades,” said Gatchalian, principal sponsor of Senate Bill No. 1355, also known as the Philippine Innovation Act.
SBN 1355 seeks to establish a National Innovation Council (NIC), an inter-agency body tasked with formulating a National Innovation Agenda and Strategy Document (NIASD) – a strategic long-term roadmap to define the country’s vision for innovation and improve innovation governance through the rationalization and coordination of innovation efforts across public and private agencies.
Under SBN 1355, PHP 1 Billion would be also allocated to an Innovation Fund designed to finance innovation grants for entrepreneurship and provide support to enterprises engaged in developing innovative solutions that benefit the poorest of the poor.
“The Philippine Innovation Act will be the driving force behind a Philippine innovation renaissance over the next few decades. It is a smart investment we need to make today in order to secure the bright high-income future of the Philippines,” said Gatchalian, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Economic Affairs.
SBN 1355 will be taken up on third and final reading when the Senate session resumes this May.