Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 19) — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday said he is confident about the economic growth of the Philippines because the country has a young workforce.
Marcos made the comment during his one-on-one dialogue with World Economic Forum (WEF) President Børge Brende in Davos, Switzerland.
“The reason that I am very confident in the future is because we have this workforce. We have a very, very good workforce in the Philippines. We have the youngest workforce in Asia,” Marcos said.
“You might be surprised to know that the average age of a Filipino worker is 23 and a half years old. That is a huge demographic dividend,” he added.
With this demographic, Marcos said the country is now concentrating on “upscaling and rescaling” the workforce.
The chief executive also said the Philippines’ young workers have a valued skill set.
“Our workforce is well-trained, is sophisticated, English-speaking, and in terms of technology, I would say we are on equal footing as any other country. So that is where my confidence comes from,” he said.
“That is the confidence that I hope to exude sufficiently to bring that confidence also to all of you and all of our potential partners in the world,” he added, addressing the forum’s participants.
The one-on-one dialogue with the WEF President officially capped off Marcos’ first participation in the four-day forum in Davos.
