Modernizing infrastructure, shifting businesses toward higher-value services, and equipping the country’s workforce for an artificial intelligence or AI-driven economy will help the Philippines sustain its long-term growth and quality jobs, Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said.

“The central question is whether expanding services trade can generate productivity growth across the economy and good jobs for a much wider group of workers and firms,” Balisacan said at the Regional Conference on Trade in Services for Development (TS4D) in Asia and the Pacific held on Monday.

Balisacan cited the importance of the services sector, which currently accounts for about two-thirds of the country’s gross domestic product.

The Information Technology and Business Process Management (IT-BPM) industry alone already generated more than USD40 billion in revenue and employed 1.9 million workers last year.

Balisacan, however, said there is a need to improve digital connectivity, transport and logistics, financial services, and other business-support services to raise productivity and help firms participate in regional and global value chains.

“IT-BPM is a notable export success, but it cannot, by itself, raise productivity throughout the much larger services economy,” he said.

Citing the World Bank’s 2025 Philippines Country Growth and Jobs Report, Balisacan said three out of every four jobs created since 2010 were concentrated in non-tradable activities.

He said services productivity only grew by 26 percent between 2006 and 2019, compared with 53 percent in manufacturing.

Balisacan also highlighted the need to help workers and firms adapt to artificial intelligence as it reshapes the services sector.

“Exposure to AI is not the same as inevitable job loss,” Balisacan said.

Balisacan said AI’s impact will depend on how firms adopt the technology, how workers are prepared, and whether higher-value activities can expand as existing tasks evolve. (PNA)