DAVAO CITY—The Philippines is improving the ease of doing business (EODB) to encourage increased investments from Spanish and other foreign business groups that want a foothold in the highly lucrative and emerging integrated Southeast Asian market, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said.
Speaking at the opening of the Eighth Tribuna Espana-Filipinas held here, Dominguez also said the Duterte administration is committed to keep the robust pace of domestic growth that expanded 7.1 percent in the third quarter and has begun taking initiatives to sustain this momentum that has made the Philippines among Asia’s fastest-growing economies.
These steps include moving rapidly in modernizing the country’s infrastructure, bringing down production costs to competitive levels and opening public-private partnership (PPP) projects to clear traffic congestion and improve the flow of commerce throughout the country.
“There should be ample opportunities for Spanish firms to participate in these projects,” Dominguez said at the symposium held at the Marco Polo Hotel, pointing out that the Philippine government is set to invest $180 billion in infrastructure over the next six years.
Rea Cu with PNA