MANILA – The National Competitiveness Council (NCC) today said the Philippines could join the top 30 business-friendly locations in this year’s edition of the World Bank’s annual Ease of Doing Business survey should the country implement reforms in four key areas.
“The competition never sleeps. Speed to reform should be our mantra. We can’t say we are in progress. Government should understand that markets look for speed to reform,” NCC co-chair Guillermo Luz said during the Ease of Doing Business Summit.
In last year’s survey, the Philippines climbed to 108th spot from the previous year’s 138th, and was one of 10 markets that registered the biggest improvement.
Luz said the Philippines could catapult to the 29th place this year should reforms be completed in the following areas:
Starting a business
– Reduce number of days and steps to securing permits from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), local government units (LGUs), Philippine HEalth Insurance Corp (PhilHealth), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Social Security System (SSS).
– Establish online business registration
Registering property
– Reduce number of days and steps in registering property
– Cut cost of requirements
Getting credit
– Greater transparency in credit data
– Review collateral and bankruptcy laws
Protecting investors
– Review of Corporation Code of the Philippines.
International Finance Corp (IFC) Philippine representative Jesse Ang said the country should work on attracting more investments to create more jobs. IFC is the private-sector lending arm of the World Bank.
“We want more people to have jobs. One of our biggest challenges is creation of jobs,” he said. –Chelsea Cruz, InterAksyon.com
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