Filipino businessmen on Thursday bared their updated “wish list,” topped by the immediate passage of eight priority economic bills and the swift issuance of presidential proclamations for economic zones.
As this developed, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said Chinese firms have expressed keen interest in putting up industrial economic zones in the Philippines.
The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) presented its list of 10 initiatives that it wants the government to undertake during its 43rd Philippine Business Conference & Expo held in Manila on October 18 and 19.
The PCCI called on the House of Representatives and the Senate for the enactment into law of these priority legislative measures:
■ Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act;
■ Public Service Act (PSA);
■ Act creating Regional Investment and Infrastructure Corporation of Central Luzon;
■ Amendment of the Local Government Code;
■ Expanded Anti-Red Tape Act;
■ Customs Amnesty Act;
■ Estate Tax Amnesty; and
■ Granting Amnesty on All Unpaid Internal Revenue Taxes Imposed by the National Government for Taxable Year 2015 and Prior Years.
It added: “The national government must fast-track the presidential proclamation of economic-zone applications already approved by the Department of Trade and Industry [DTI] to create more economic opportunities, especially in the regions.”
“This economic-zone resolution is quite pressing. These projects go through a process, and right now the process is posing a concern among those who invested in the Philippine Economic Zone Authority [Peza] ecozone,” PCCI President George T. Barcelon told reporters at the sidelines of the annual business conference.
Peza, the investment promotion authority tasked to authorize and build ecozones in the country, said in July that Executive Secretary Salvador C. Medialdea has yet to act on 46 applications for ecozones.
The agency’s founding law, the Special Economic Zone Act of 1995, mandates that proposed economic zones that have hurdled approval at the Peza board level still has to wait for a presidential proclamation.
Despite this, two Chinese firms are keen on setting up special ecozones, Pernia told reporters at the sidelines of the conference. “I think they’re looking at Central Luzon, in the Clark area.”
Pernia added the firms relayed its expression of interest during the recent road show attended by economic managers in Shanghai, China.
He said these industrial economic zones will cater to firms engaged in the manufacture of high-end electronic products.
However, Pernia said there is no timetable set for the evaluation and approval of their proposal, since discussion on the matter is still ongoing between the economic team and the firms.
Allowing the entry of foreign firms, such as those engaged in electronics manufacturing, is seen as a good sign by the economic team, especially in terms of increasing the country’s foreign direct investments (FDI).
In another forum, former dean of the University of the Philippines School of Economics Ramon Clarete said the Philippines continues to trail behind its Southeast Asian neighbors in terms of FDI.
Clarete said the country’s FDI have already reached $4 billion, which is significantly higher than the $2-billion FDI recorded in the 1990s.
“In terms of foreign direct investments, we are in the bottom still. We had gains since 2012 and FDI had been rising to about $4 billion, but the latest news is we probably would end up with less than $1 billion this year. I hope it doesn’t slide down back to the level seen in the 1990s,” he said.
The country’s cumulative FDI between 1970 and 2013, Clarete added, only amounted to $41.9 billion, the lowest in the Asean-5. Malaysia has the highest FDI stock of $146.7 billion between 1970 and 2013, followed by Thailand with $139.5 billion; Indonesia, $128.4 billion; and Vietnam, $81.8 billion.
Other initiatives
The PCCI is also asking the Bureau of Internal Revenue and local government units (LGUs) to review, simplify and streamline processes, requirements and fees in business registrations, licenses and closures.
To boost the agriculture sector, the PCCI called on the Department of Agriculture and the DTI to fully implement the Agribusiness Support for Promotion and Investment in Regional Expo (Aspire) nationwide.
Under Aspire, the PCCI said the government must identify the priority commodities of the regions that would be given assistance and interventions through the use of geo mapping/tagging and make the information available to the private sector.
The group said a database and market profiling that would be readily accessible to farmers, producers and end-uers and a centralized monitoring mechanism that would document compliance and accomplishment of Aspire deliverables must be created.
The national government and the Department of Education was urged to strengthen health and nutrition program in public elementary schools and to “give more impetus” to the K to 12 program by making available industry-relevant facilities.
The PCCI also asked the DTI and the Department of Transportation to issue a joint department order on publishing international shipping fees and other charges in order for traders, importers and exporters to choose which shipping lines offer fair and reasonable rate.