Country: The Philippines
Themes: Strengthening the Business Enabling Environment, Promoting technology adoption to raise productivity, Supporting entrepreneurship and SME growth
Cross Cutting Themes: Gender, Digital
Anticipated Impact Areas: Quality Jobs, Private Investment
The Challenge
The Philippines is grappling with major barriers to investment in digital and climate innovation¡ªranging from limited access to finance and regulatory bottlenecks to market inefficiencies. These challenges have stunted technology adoption, hindered productivity, and slowed the growth of the innovation ecosystem. But a C-JET grant is helping to turn the tide. By supporting key agencies like the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the grant is driving productivity, fostering innovation, and laying the groundwork for sustainable economic growth.
Mission
With a focus on creating a business-friendly environment and nurturing an innovation ecosystem, the grant delivers tangible benefits across sectors. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs), startups, financial institutions, investors, and academia all stand to gain. The grant also boosts job creation, skill development, and expands access to innovative products and services, while promoting green and digital solutions that bolster long-term resilience and global competitiveness.
A key initiative funded by the grant is the pilot use of the ICA 2.0 EPIC toolkit, which systematically identifies barriers to investment and crafts policies to address them. The results have informed the Philippines' Country Economic Memorandum (CEM) 3.0 and will guide future digital and climate-focused Development Policy Operations (DPO) and innovation financing projects. The objectives are clear: (1) Apply the ICA 2.0 EPIC toolkit to assess the investment climate and pinpoint constraints to innovation. (2) Provide evidence-based policy recommendations for fostering an innovation-driven growth environment. (3) Shape future lending operations and policy reforms in the digital and climate sectors.
This funding has also led to the creation of a Special Focus Chapter on productivity, digital technologies, jobs, and competition. This chapter will serve as the foundation for an Innovation Investment Project Financing (IPF) aimed at advancing digital technologies in the Philippines.
