THE Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) said on Tuesday the incoming administration must be given time to draw up their plans to accelerate economic growth.
For its part, the Joint Foreign Chambers (JFC) hailed the successful conduct of Monday’s national and local elections, and expressed hope of continuing to work with government officials all over the country to recover from the pandemic.
“Let’s give the incoming administration time to draw up and share their plans in making our country more progressive. Let’s stay positive,” PCCI President George Barcelon said in a news statement on Tuesday.
Barcelon emphasized that presidential frontrunner Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. will be faced with the same financial challenges due to the prolonged Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing conflict in Eastern Europe.
The PCCI president thinks the incoming government should watch out for debt and inflation issues, as these indicate signs of an economic downturn, which is similar to other countries.
He also gave credit to Finance Secretary Sonny Dominguez for a smooth transition from the outgoing to the new administration.
“There will be blips in rating and downward trend,” he said, but added that, “our macroeconomic fundamentals are intact” and President Duterte’s administration’s economic reforms are in place. He praised Finance Secretary Dominguez, “who provided a sound takeoff point for the new administration.”
Just last week, Dominguez, the designated representative of President Duterte to the Philippines’ Climate Change Commission, met with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) outgoing president Shinichi Kitaoka and current president Akihiko Tanaka in Tokyo, Japan, following the signing of the 30-billion yen loan agreement for the second phase of the Covid-19 Crisis Response Emergency Support Loan (CCRESEL 2) facility.
Dominguez and the JICA president also looked forward to the implementation of the Subic Bay Regional Development Master Plan after it was finalized recently with the JICA survey mission team’s assistance.
The masterplan will serve as a blueprint to maximize the economic development potential of Subic Bay and its surrounding areas.
On the recent enactment of the amendatory laws to the Public Service Act (PSA), Retail Trade Liberalization Act (RTLA), and Foreign Investments Act (FIA), Dominguez noted: “These three forward-looking measures widen the horizon for investments. They create numerous opportunities for
synergy between local and international firms.”
“There is now enough space for international firms, especially those at the cutting edge of information technologies, to form joint ventures with Filipino companies,” he added.
Through the amended PSA, public services in the country such as telecommunications and airlines are now open to 100 percent foreign ownership, while public utilities are retained as majority Filipino-owned, subject to the 60-40 rule.
The finance chief noted that the amended RTLA lowered the minimum paid-up capital requirement for foreign corporations and simplified the qualification requirements for foreign retailers.
Dominguez, in April, urged the foreign retailers to expand and establish their retail trade operations in the Philippines following the loosened market entry barriers in the retail industry.
Foreign investors
Meanwhile, foreign investors have lauded the Philippines for showing again the strength of its democracy during the campaign period and elections.
The Joint Foreign Chambers (JFC) also looked forward to working with government officials all over the country in a post-pandemic recovery.
“As business chambers, we hope to continue to work closely with government officials at all levels throughout the country for the recovery from the pandemic and to maintain high levels of GDP growth, infrastructure development, job creation, and foreign direct investment [FDI] inflows best achieved by continuing the governance and policies of the current and previous administrations,” the foreign business groups said in a statement on Tuesday.
The JFC is a coalition of the American, Australian-New Zealand, Canadian, European, Japanese, Korean chambers and Philippine Association of Multinational Companies Regional Headquarters Inc. (Pamuri).
The group of foreign chambers represents over 3,000 member companies engaged in around $100 billion worth of trade and some $30 billion worth of investments in the Philippines.
JFC supports and promotes open international trade, increased foreign investment, and improved conditions for business to benefit both the Philippines and the countries the JFC members represent.
The Philippines held its first ever National and Local Elections (NLE) during a pandemic on May 9, 2022.
Over 65.83 million voters were registered to vote in 106,174 clustered precincts nationwide. Comelec Commissioner Marlon S. Casquejo, however, said on Tuesday that based on their partial data, there was a 80.38-percent voter turnout for the 2022 local polls but this could increase since there are still 1,000 vote counting machines, which have yet to transmit their election results.