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Philippines
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Govt reduces business competitiveness goal

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The National Competitiveness Council and the Trade Department downgraded their 2022 target for improving the business climate, after the country’s ranking in the World Bank’s ease of doing business report slid this year.

The government now aims for the 38th rank among 190 economies by 2022, down from the previous ambitious target of 20th spot by 2020.

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said the government would strive to make the Philippines in the top 20 percent of the countries actively pursuing ease of doing business.

“It doesn’t matter whether we are at the 20th or 40th place. What is important is to improve our score. And we aim for higher target since other countries are also moving up, we need to be at par if not better than them,” he said.

The World Bank recently published the 2018 EODB report where the Philippines’ score improved marginally to 58.74 this year from 58.32 in the previous year but dropped 14 notches from 99th to 113th this year.

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This served as an eye opener for the government to motivate all agencies to implement reforms that would help increase the country’s overall score in comparison with other economies especially in Asean where many members countries scored better than the Philippines.

The Philippines improved its ranking in one indicator – paying taxes – but lagged in nine other indicators.

The Philippines’ ranking in the “paying taxes” indicator improved as a result of the Home Development Mutual Fund  and Philippine Health Insurance Corp. setting up online electronic payments systems.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue, however, still needed to make electronic payments available on a larger scale.

NCC co-chairman Guillermo Luz said the Philippine should adopt the “leapfrogging strategy”, especially on automation, if the government was to achieve the 38th ranking in EODB by 2022.

“I think the biggest leapfrog move will be the improvements we can make online and on the phone up to the payment system. We need to go on apps and use them,” he said.

Among the recommendations by NCC are amendment to the Corporation Code to allow for single person corporations and eliminate minimum capital requirements; for the the Securities and Exchange Commission to shorten the incorporation process significantly and automate it to improve the Philippines’ performance in the “starting a business” indicator; pass the new Expanded Anti-Red Tape Act; and implement within 2017 the Philippine Business Registry, an online system for entrepreneurs to register corporations and single proprietorships and apply for licenses.

It also pushed for the Philippine Business Data Bank, a database of all business enterprises; for Credit Information Corp. to set up an automated credit information system; to create a Collateral Registry for real estate, machinery and movables by Land Registration Authority; launch the National Single Window by Dec. 30, 2017 using the TradeNet platform to automate import and export application processes; for the Supreme Court to complete its pilot e-Courts system; and create a Joint Memorandum Circular between the Local Government, Trade, Information and Communications, and Public Works Departments, and National Competitiveness Council to streamline the process for obtaining construction permits. 

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