ASPIRING LEGISLATORS need to push for even more reform measures to liberalize the economy and enhance the ease of doing business, two foreign business chambers said.
“We would like to see a lot of focus on further opening the economy and improving foreign direct investment (FDI),” British Chamber of Commerce Philippines Executive Chairman Chris Nelson said by telephone.
The Philippines is under pressure to attract more FDI to keep pace with regional rivals. It passed a law in 2022 permitting full foreign ownership of public services, including telecommunications, airlines and railways.
Mr. Nelson said the law should be “further improved.”
The Constitution reserves public utilities, education and advertising industries to Filipinos or companies with at least 60% Filipino ownership.
“We’re always going to advocate for a freer investment environment,” said Mr. Nelson said.
He also said political candidates should push for measures complementing the pending E-government and open data transmission bills, urging the next Congress to prioritize their approval if they remain unpassed. “We’d like to see candidates discussing how they would further improve the ease of doing business.”
“We’d like to see discussions to focus on improving business processes, and we think that it’s obviously directly linked to e-governance,” he added.
Sitting legislators should also work on priority measures currently pending in Congress, including amendments to a law that liberalized the power sector and the fiscal regime, Ebb Hinchliffe, American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Inc. executive director, said via Viber.
“We are hopeful that key measures near the finish line… are passed within the current Congress so that the 20th Congress can focus on other measures that strengthen the Philippine trade and investment climate, like the International Maritime Trade Competitiveness Act and the creation of the Philippine Airports Authority,” he said.
Mr. Hinchliffe said the US chamber is working with other business groups on a list of priority legislation, to release it before the President’s State of the Nation Address in July.
Voters will pick a new set of legislators, including half of the Senate, as well as thousands of local officials on May 12. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio