BAGUIO CITY—The Philippines can become top retirement and investment haven by the year 2019 if the government improves its services for foreigners wanting to spend their retirement in strategic places in the country, according to a senior official of the Philippine Retirement Authority.
Lawyer Bienvenido Chy, PRA general manager, said there are already 47,600 foreign retirees in the different parts of the country and government plans to double the number over the next two to three years depending on how the PRA will be able to market the country to the foreign retirees.
He said the top foreign retirees in the country include Chinese, Koreans, Taiwanese, Indians, Japanese and other Southeast Asian nationals who now staying in various parts of the country.
“We believe we can improve the country’s standing as a retirement and investment haven through our introduction of the needed innovations to the services that we offer and the aggressive marketing we will do to the prospective foreign retirees,” Chy stressed.
The PRA official said the Philippines now ranks 17th among existing retirement and investment havens in the different parts of the world and the government needs to overhaul the country’s existing retirement programs.
According to Chy, the country already has the natural beauty that entices foreign retirees to visit the different tourist destinations and what needs to be done is to design attractive retirement packages for the appreciation of interested retirees.
He admitted the potentials of the country becoming a retirement and investment haven had been overlooked by the previous administrators of the PRA, thus, he will introduce the necessary innovations that will make foreign retirees an integral part of the country’s robust economic growth in the next several years.
Chy believes by improving the existing packages being offered for foreign retirees, there will be an upsurge of foreign retirees wanting to reside in the city, and in other prime tourist destinations such as Cebu, Davao, Clark and Subic.
Chy claimed numerous foreign retirees have expressed a desire to retire in the country because of the scenic tourist destinations, the hospitable people and the good food.