The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is encouraging biotech firms to invest in the Philippines where they can avail of various tax incentives and fiscal perks.
“Biotech companies can expect ease of doing business in the Philippines. The Board of Investments [BOI] has listed biotech-enabled production, manufacturing, and service-type activities in the 2022 Strategic Investment Priority Plan [SIPP],” Trade Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual said in his speech during the 18th National Biotechnology Week held in Pasay on Monday.
The Trade chief said biotech firms may avail of tax incentives and perks under Republic Act 11534 of the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act.
Pascual said biotech-enabled activities related to food security and research and development (R&D) activities on modern biotech or its commercialization are considered Tier II and Tier III activities. Hence, the Trade chief noted, these projects can enjoy a better set of incentives such as an income tax holiday of at least five years.
Pascual said the agency considers modern biotechnology as a “vital tool” to achieve the primary agenda of the government on economic recovery and transformation.
He added biotech industry development is a “common aspiration,” as the country aims to grow “globally competitive and innovative Philippine industries.” The Trade chief cited the fields of agriculture, food manufacturing, energy, medicine, pharmaceutical, biomaterials, and bioengineering.
“Effectively harnessing biotech will increase our agricultural productivity, allow us to achieve food security, and modernize our industry and services sectors.”
For one, the Trade chief unveiled that the ongoing research between the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and Bioseed Research Philippines Inc. seeks to bolster rice production, a staple food for many Filipinos.
Pascual said “this research project aims to develop rice varieties that can better cope with floods, droughts, and extreme climate phenomena.”
The Trade chief noted that another modern biotech “breakthrough” is the establishment last July of InterVenn, a Filipino-founded, San Francisco-based biotech firm. Pascual said the biotech firm has made an impact on health and employment.
“The company has made significant strides in early cancer detection through the help of brilliant and dedicated Filipino engineers who have helped build and maintain the front end, back end, and cloud infrastructure of the next-generation liquid biopsy,” Pascual said.
“The company’s advanced AI (artificial intelligence) platform was able to help its global groups of researchers and scientists significantly reduce the time it takes to analyze samples from months to mere seconds. Aside from its impact on health, the biotech company also affects jobs as it employs 150 Filipinos, half of whom are software developers,” Pascual added. -30-