Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion on Thursday cited the need to create more jobs to further spur economic growth.

“Job generation and the quality of jobs are very important. Quality of jobs, we really need to train our people, they have to elevate,” he said at the weekly Pandesal Forum in Quezon City.

Concepcion, who is President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s Private Sector Advisory Council Lead for the Jobs Sector, said the Philippines should also take advantage of the huge demand, especially in maritime and nursing.

“We excel in nursing, we excel in maritime, and that is the number one target of other countries to get from us – these talented people. That is where we have to focus,” he said.

Aside from job generation, Concepcion also cited the need to further improve the country’s agriculture sector.

“If we really want to improve the lives of our farmers and reduce the level of poverty, the only way is to scale up our farmers. There are two options in that,” he said.

“One, the farmer can just sell his land and just get out or lease the land to a ‘big brother’ or large entrepreneur and just collect rent. The other option is to join a big brother.”

Concepcion said they have already identified 30 to 35 “big brothers” that are willing to help farmers and provide the technology, mentorship, and the market for their produce.

In the meantime, he said the Philippines is still on the right track despite the several headwinds to growth, and the government is doing what it can to generate more jobs.

“This government is doing what it can to contain inflation. There’s price control on rice. Some people say it’s not going to work, but doing something is better than not doing anything,” Concepcion said.

“This administration and President Marcos is really trying to help poor people. He really wants Filipinos to have better lives.”

According to him, the President’s move to create a private sector advisory council in six sectors would also be a huge help to the economy.

“Nobody has ever done this. You have basically close to 35 top entrepreneurs in the country helping the government. That’s a big help. This is a big plus because the private sector is taking a role in helping the government push our economy forward,” Concepcion said. (PNA)