30 September 2022 – SEDA VERTIS NORTH. The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), with the Economic Sector Statistics Service under the Sectoral Statistics Office, spearheaded the conduct of the national data dissemination forum on the preliminary results of the 2020 Annual Survey of Philippine Business and Industry (ASPBI).

The data dissemination forum aims to:
a. Present the highlights of the 2020 ASPBI, compared with the results of the 2019 ASPBI which captured data prior to the outbreak of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic;
b. Serve as an avenue for giving due recognition to the cooperation of responding sample establishments in the conduct of ASPBI; and
c. Discuss issues and concerns related to the statistics generated especially on how to improve further the reliability of these statistics.

The half-day event was attended by 104 participants from major government agencies, industry associations, corporate firms, private research agencies, guests from selected sample establishments, and other stakeholders. It was conducted on a hybrid setup which was in-person and virtual attendance at the forum.

The forum was graced by PSA Undersecretary Dennis S. Mapa, Ph.D., National Statistician and Civil Registrar General. In his welcome remarks, he emphasized PSA’s role ─ as the central statistical agency of the Philippine government on primary data collection ─ in the generation of various statistics which include economic statistics. These statistics are useful in the formulation of socioeconomic development plans, policies, and programs.  Moreover, he urged the audience to observe the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the revenue, expense, and employment, among others, of the formal sector of the economy as generated from the ASPBI.

Undersecretary Mapa also extended PSA’s gratitude to all the sample establishments for their active participation in the survey and for submitting their data on time. He reiterated that surveys being conducted by PSA will not be successful without the unwavering support from the sample establishments. Furthermore, he took the opportunity to encourage the respondents to utilize the online questionnaires in future surveys.  Lastly, he emphasized that the PSA is working to further improve the ASPBI so that the results will be released earlier than usual.

Undersecretary Rosemarie G. Edillion, Ph.D. of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) served as the keynote speaker during the event. In her keynote address, Undersecretary Edillion emphasized the importance of the result of the ASPBI especially the 2019 to 2022 rounds because these covered the pre- and current-  pandemic periods, which in turn provided information on the impact of the pandemic to the Philippine economy.  In addition, she expressed hope that the PSA can further shorten the timeline for the release of the succeeding ASPBI for timely policies, programs, and projects to address issues and concerns pertaining to the country’s economy.  Furthermore, she mentioned that the Philippine Development Plan being prepared by NEDA would center on economic transformation for a prosperous, inclusive, and resilient society.

Officer  -in-Charge Assistant National Statistician Soraya C. de Guzman presented the preliminary results of the 2020 ASPBI which was followed by the key insights from the discussants, Director Bien A. Ganapin of NEDA and Director Janet S. Cuenca of Department of Trade and Industry.

Director Ganapin emphasized the need to push for more aggressive policies that will help businesses and industries recover from the impact of the pandemic. Furthermore, Director Cuenca stressed the need to harmonize the definition of Micro, Small, and Medium Establishments (MSMEs) to avoid confusion among stakeholders. She also commended the PSA for providing infographics which she considered a good example of data visualization that can help policymakers and the public understand the ASPBI survey results.

The event was also highlighted by the awarding of certificates, plaque, and token of appreciation to selected sample establishments for their timely submission of quality data.

The ASPBI is one of the designated statistical activities of the PSA that aims to generate essential statistics for economic planning and analysis. It is specifically designed to collect and generate information on the levels, structure, performance, and trends of economic activities of the formal sector of the country’s economy.

The forum can be watched through this link: https://fb.watch/g8xTRTZHsE/

- Sectoral Statistics Office