3-step, 3-day registration process eyed

The Philippines must have more of e-government, with state transactions going online as the country strives to be more attractive to entrepreneurs, according to the National Competitiveness Council (NCC).

Trade Secretary Adrian S. Cristobal Jr., who is also NCC chair, Thursday said in a forum the aim was to reduce the number of days it was taking to register a business to eight this year from 29 days in 2015, and the number of steps to six from 16.

“We also have this higher goal, to make it three steps in three days, eventually,” Cristobal said, referring to the benchmark which is the experience in Singapore.

The DTI chief said the intention was to encourage small businesses that did not have access to resources, like a group of lawyers and other professionals that help enterprises go through the maze of regulatory compliance and other transactions with the government, to register.

To do this, various government agencies that businesses need to transact with have been taking steps to further improve and streamline the process of business registration and tax payments, mainly through the expansion of one-stop registration shops to provinces and malls, online banking and mobile payments.

Guillermo M. Luz, NCC co-chair representing the private sector, said such efforts would leverage achievements in the past four or five years in shoring up the Philippines’ competitiveness against other countries and territories.

“What we are focusing on now is the push for e-government, transacting electronically and online,” Luz said.

“I am very confident about this,” he said. “Remember, we have overtaken at least 38 countries since we started (NCC initiatives).”

Luz said that in 2015, the Philippines’ global ranking improved by 38 notches to 47th place out of 140 countries in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report.

Also last year, the Philippines moved up by 45 places to be 103rd out of 189 jurisdictions in the International Finance Corp.’s Doing Business Report.

According to the NCC, the Securities and Exchange Commission was now bringing to the provinces its Integrated Business Registration System (IBRS) through satellite offices in Tarlac, Cebu, Davao and Cagayan de Oro.