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MANILA – The business community today has called on the Aquino administration to secure its economic gains by spending its remaining less than two years in office to put in place pending reforms.
Close to three-fourths, or 331 out of the 462 recommendations put forward by the Joint Foreign Chambers in 2010 have met with some government action, according to John Forbes, senior adviser of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (AmCham).
This is more than the 326 acted upon as of 2013, Forbes said on the sidelines of the 4th Arangkada Forum.
The recommendations are contained in Arangkada, a roadmap the Joint Foreign Chambers launched in 2010. The proposals cover seven industries that the group expects to speed up Philippine economic growth, generating $75 billion in forein investments, 10 million jobs and $1 trillion in revenue by 2020.
The seven industries or sectors include manufacturing, agribusiness, business process outsourcing (BPO), creative, mining, infrastructure and tourism.
Of the seven, three – manufacturing, agribusiness and mining – have lagged in terms of the needed government support, according to Ian Porter, president of the Australian-New Zealand Chamber of Commerce Philippines.
Despite its newfound growth, manufacturing could get a leg up from improvements in the country’s competitiveness, Porter said.
Manufacturing has been one of the sources of recent Philippine economic expansion. For this year, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) forecast growth of 8-10 percent for the industry.
Porter said agribusiness can play a big role in creating jobs in the rural areas, where incomes are the lowest.
“Agribusiness is very important because it is an area where if the Philippines took off and it has the potential to do so, it will do a lot to alleviate poverty because it will take place in areas subject to high levels of poverty,” he said.
As for mining, investments have slowed on the back of conflicting policies, especially after President issued Executive Order 79, which suspended the processing of new mining applications.
“No legal investments are taking place in mining. The shame about it is internationally reputable mining companies who have good records and can provide sustainable development of the mining sector are excluded so what is happening is illegal mining is taking off,” Porter said.
He said amending the restrictive economic provisions of the Constitution would go a long way in attracting more investments.
“Lifting the economic provisions of the Constitution is really a priority. This is not a view only the JFC holds but just about any business organization in the Philippines holds. This is the absolute key to lift this country’s economic growth and alleviate poverty,” Porter said.
Makati Business Club chairman Ramon del Rosario agreed that Constitutional amendments are overdue, citing Resolution No. 1 put forward by House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte and calling for the lifting of foreign ownership restrictions.
“This amendment will give Congress the flexibility to determine which areas of the economy should be opened to increased foreign participation based on thorough deliberations from the committee level to the plenary. The Philippines is among the very few nations with specific economic restrictions lodged into its constitution, whereas a large number of countries subscribe to the principle of allowing their legislatures to determine economic policy,” del Rosario said.
“There is no better time than now to accelerate the process of opening up our economy as we host the annual meeting of APEC, which champions policies of open markets and enhanced investments and trade among its member economies,” he said.
“We also believe that engaging in economic Charter Change will be beneficial for the medium- and long-term, especially in this period of ASEAN integration and the improved attractiveness of the Philippines as an investment destination,” he added.
Source: http://www.interaksyon.com/business/106185/businessmen-call-for-focus-in-final-push-for-reforms-before-aquino-steps-down
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