The ADB noted that smartphone usage in the Philippines is among the most widespread in Southeast Asia, but the country has limited tower coverage — with only 240 towers per million population.
Nine rural banks and a bank consortium have secured grants worth $655,000 from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the implementation of digital transformation solutions aimed at catalyzing financial inclusion.
Visayas-based Cebuanimation Network has been chosen as one of the five cooperatives that will receive funding grants from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Meanwhile, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said the digitalization of the Philippine economy and government is one of the six strategies it would implement over the next five years to facilitate economic and social transformation under the Philippine Development Plan (PDP).
ADB chief economist Yasuyuki Sawada said accelerating the country’s digital transformation could lead to substantial growth in global output, employment, and trade.
Thomas Abell, chief of Asian Development Bank (ADB)’s Digital Technology for Development, said the world might see an economic boom that will fuel digital economy as countries transition to the so-called ‘new normal’ once “the pandemic starts to recede.”
A study funded by the Asian Development Bank urged the Philippines and other Asian countries like Bangladesh and Indonesia to consider more jobs in software development and technology.
A study conducted by state think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) showed that there are certain groups who “benefit more from [the] digital economy”.
