THE government must move quickly to step up implementation of urgent economic reforms to reverse the Philippines’s dismal performance in luring investors to the country, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Economic Affairs said on Thursday.
Citing a recent Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)
data showing the Philippines “poor standing” in terms of Foreign Direct
Investment (FDI) inflows compared with 10 Asian countries in 2018, Sen. Sherwin
T. Gatchalian said “this establishes our case for the immediate implementation
of economic reforms that will foster a more competitive business environment in
the country.”
Gatchalian noted that Congress would need to fast-track passage of pending remedial legislation to jack up FDI inflows.
“With only nine session days remaining, we hope to sponsor a measure amending the Foreign Investments Act [FIA] of 1991, which is essential to put the country in a competitive position over other Asean countries in terms of attracting businesses and investments,” he said.
The senator suggested that this can be done “by providing clarity to foreigners who are interested in investing in small and medium enterprises or practicing their profession in the Philippines.”
He added that based on their analysis, macroeconomic risks such as higher-than-expected inflation in 2018, “the country’s restrictive investment environment, and poor infrastructure quality—particularly on transportation and logistical infrastructure—remain to be the key stumbling block for the country to corner higher FDI.”
At the same time, Gatchalian sought support of fellow senators to frontload early passage of key economic bills that will “foster an inclusive, efficient and competitive business environment in the Philippines.”
He listed the Public Service Act and the Retail Trade Liberalization Act on top of the Senate panel’s economic reform agenda.