RP improves ranking in global survey on business

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines likely improved its ranking in the annual global survey on doing business set to be released next week, the International Finance Corp. (IFC) said.

IFC senior private sector development specialist Kim Jacinto-Henares said the Philippines had taken steps to move up in the yearly Doing Business (DB) report, a global rating of how countries establish conditions were conducive to starting business in their respective domains.

The World Bank and IFC, its private investment arm, are spearheading the study.

In the 2008 DB report, the Philippines ranked 136th among 178 countries covered by the survey. Last year, it slipped to 140th in a list that was expanded to 181 countries. In the soon-to-be-released 2010 DB report, a total of 183 countries were included.

In the past two reports, Singapore, New Zealand and Hong Kong were among the consistent leaders. Last year, the Philippines even fell behind Indonesia, Cambodia, India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia.

But Henares said the IFC has extended support to local government units (LGUs) in the Philippines working to simplify the business registration process for domestic business.

“We want it to be simple and as painless as possible,” Henares, a former deputy commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), added.

She pointed out that while the national government does not have a single entity that coordinates and initiates all the regulations and procedures to simplify business registration, the IFC acknowledged the efforts of agencies with overlapping or competing functions to streamline their procedures.

The IFC consultant, however, said problems remained prevalent when dealing with national government agencies. Among those mentioned were the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), the Bureau of Customs (BOC), and the Department of Finance (DOF).

On the other hand, Henares said the LGUs have initiated efforts to standardize the process in business registration.

Backed by a P16-million grant from the IFC, major LGUs are now starting to adopt standards for business registration and permit processing project.

All cities are expected to adopt a single process based on the project by November this year. The lead cities in Metro Manila are Quezon City, Marikina, Mandaluyong, and Manila.

Henares said improving conditions for starting a domestic business would also encourage the so-called informal sector to go mainstream.

From the IFC studies, countries with very difficult processes for starting and doing business tend to have a large informal sector. “The Philippines is part of this group,” Mayet S. Patag, IFC consultant, said. –Ted P. Torres (The Philippine Star)