The Department of Trade and Industry awarded the first certificate of endorsement under Executive Order 18 to renewable energy company SunAsia Energy Inc. during the launch of the Green Lane for Strategic Investments at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila Thursday.
Underscoring the country’s bid as the next investment destination in Asia, Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual said SunAsia Energy would set up floating solar panels on Laguna Lake to produce 1.3 gigawatts on $1.7-billion investments.
“The signs are emerging. Total foreign investments approved for incentives in the first quarter of 2023 amounted to P173 billion, a significant increase from just P9 billion in the same quarter of last year,” Pascual said.
He said the various investment missions so far yielded P3.5 trillion of leads for the country. The public and private sectors generated leads from investment trade roadshows in Singapore, Indonesia, the United States, Japan, China, Thailand and Europe, he said.
Pascual said EO 18 is a government-wide response to improve the ease of doing business in the Philippines.
The EO is meant to expedite, streamline and automate government approval and registration processes for priority investments or strategic investments aligned with the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028, he said.
It covers all national government agencies, government-owned and controlled corporations and other government instrumentalities as well as local government units involved in the issuance of permits, licenses, certifications or authorizations covering strategic investments.
The DTI together with the Board of Investments were mandated under EO 18 to launch a One-Stop-Action-Center for Strategic Investments as a single point of entry for all strategic investments.
“With this EO, the DTI, through the BOI’s One-Stop-Action-Center for Strategic Investments, can effectively collaborate with key stakeholders and uphold the current administration’s goal to promote ease of doing business for both local and foreign investors,” Pascual said.
The critical provision of the EO is the simultaneous processing of applications expediting the often-long queue of permits and applications necessary to commence business operations.
“This covenant conveys our joint aspirations to make the Philippines an investment destination of choice. As we all know, the successful and expeditious implementation of investments will translate into more stable and higher-paying jobs for our people without unnecessary delays,” Pascual said.
