Inclusive Innovation Industrial Strategy

  • In support of President Rodrigo Duterte’s Zero+10-Point socioeconomic agenda, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is implementing the Inclusive Innovation Industrial Strategy (i3S)1 which aims to grow innovative and globally competitive manufacturing, agriculture and services industries, while strengthening their linkages in the global value chain to achieve an inclusive and sustainable growth that generates more opportunities for employment and entrepreneurship in the country.
  • i3S envisions the government to act as the facilitator in addressing the most binding constraints in preventing the industries from growing. It aims to create globally competitive and innovative industries through (1) building an innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem that will help in forming new industry clusters; (2) removing obstacles to growth that will allow the Philippines to attract more investments; (3) strengthening domestic supply chain to encourage inclusivity and promote self-sufficiency; and (4) deepening the participation of the industries in global and regional value chains to maximize economic benefits.
  • The I3S is based on six strategic actions aimed at pursuing coordination with other government agencies, industry, and academe:

    • Embrace Industry 4.0: Embrace Industry 4.0 technologies to make our industries more competitive with manufacturing as a major driver of industrial development and inclusive and sustainable growth.
    • Innovative SMEs & Startups: Promoting the development of more innovative MSMEs and startups
    • Integrate Production System: Integrating our production system by linking manufacturing with agriculture & services, address gaps in our domestic supply chain and deepen our participation in GVCs.
    • Ease of Doing Business: Improving our infrastructure by streamlining & automating regulatory processes and investing in digital & other physical infrastructure including power & logistics
    • Upskill/Reskill Workforce: Building our human capital, upgrade and reskill and equip our workforce with new digital skills to prepare them for future production
    • Innovation and Entrepreneurship Ecosystem: Build our innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem through strong collaboration between government, academe, and industry, pursue more market-oriented research & acceleration of research commercialization

Figure 1. Strategic Actions of the Inclusive Innovation Industrial Strategy

  • The current innovation strategy that is being pushed for by the DTI has both domestic and export market orientation, emphasizing the need for Filipino entrepreneurs to capitalize on the consumer market of the country while linking it to the regional hubs.

  • The DTI, through the BOI, identified the following emerging & strategic clusters as priority industries: (a) auto & auto parts, (b) electronic manufacturing service, (c) aerospace parts and aircraft maintenance, repair & overhaul, (d) chemicals, (e) Shipbuilding & ship-repair, (f) furniture, garments, creative industries, (g) Tool & Die, Iron & Steel, (h) Construction, (i) IT-BPM & E-Commerce, (j) Transport & Logistics, (k) Tourism & (l) Agribusiness.


1 – Asec. Aldaba’s Concept Note: DTI Research Project on Innovation and Industry 4.0 in the Philippines, pp. 14-18