U.S. EMBASSY STATEMENT ON AGILE

In 1997 the governments of the Republic of the Philippines and the U.S. jointly established the AGILE project, or "Accelerating Growth, Investment and Liberalization with Equity."  AGILE was developed to provide support to accelerate economic policy reforms, generate growth, help create jobs, and reduce poverty.  

AGILE provides technical services to Philippine counterparts, both governmental (like the Bureau of Customs) and non-governmental (like the Foundation for Economic Freedom).  These services take the form of training, consultants, production of information materials, and study tours to provide Filipino counterparts with information to help inform their decision making.  Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI), together with its subcontractors (including Cesar Virata and Associates, Inc., a Philippine consulting firm) was competitively selected by a joint Philippine Government-U.S. technical evaluation committee to implement AGILE.  

Most of AGILE's consultants are Filipino professionals, mobilized from the Philippines' leading firms and universities, who can use USAID resources to augment the technical capabilities of their counterparts.  AGILE has also recruited experts from other countries.  Philippine organizations use this assistance together with their own staff to achieve some of their most important objectives, mainly in establishing and implementing pro-growth policies.  AGILE has provided assistance to the Philippine Government under three presidents.

The Philippine Government and USAID jointly supervise AGILE through a steering committee, chaired by the Philippine Department of Finance.  The committee meets every six months to ensure that the purposes for which organizations use AGILE's assistance are high-priority projects consistent with the Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan.  AGILE always assists interested local partners and does not implement activities on its own.  It is neither an NGO nor a lobbying group.

AGILE's assistance is provided as a grant in-kind.  Some organizations, such as the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), make some office space available for consultants, to facilitate the technical assistance process.  Otherwise, AGILE's costs are fully funded by USAID with no cost to the Philippine Government.  

AGILE is one of several projects supported by USAID/Philippines in four areas: Economic Growth and Governance; Support for the Peace Process in Mindanao; Environment and Energy; and Family Planning, Maternal and Child Health, HIV/AIDs and Infectious Diseases.

Information about the work AGILE supports can be accessed on USAID's website: http://www.usaid-ph.gov.

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