DOF out to remove cap on foreign investments

Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima is seeking to reduce the level of restrictions to foreign investments saying that the liberalization tack will result in additional economic activities in the country and help it attain inclusive growth.

After the Philippines registered robust economic growth rates in recent years, the country now has to address the challenge of using these gains to reduce poverty incidence, Purisima said.

He singled out a proposed legislative reform—Amending the Foreign Investment Negative List.

He said relaxing the Foreign Investment Negative List, together with the rationalization of fiscal incentives and changes in the Built-Operate-Transfer law, would be a priority measure of the government’s economic team.

“Our plans for the year ahead are in pursuit of the goal of sustainable and inclusive growth, and an investment climate that is conducive to productivity and competitiveness,” Purisima said in a statement.

Economic officials will begin to lobby for the passage of the bill in Congress.

Some economists are against the restriction to foreign investments, saying that the country direly needs to boost job creation to help more people out of poverty.

With the Foreign Investment Negative List, investors are not allowed to do business in many sectors of the economy, or may do so but on a limited basis.

Under the existing list, foreign media organizations and retail trade enterprises with paid-up capital of less than $2.5 million, for instance, are not allowed to operate in the country.

Also, in some sectors, foreign investors are allowed to do business in the country but only as minority shareholders of companies dominated by Filipino owners. These sectors include education, lending, and advertising, among others.

“We have achieved so much growth these past three years … but there is much work to be done. We must keep pushing our reform programs and find new areas for growth,” Purisima said.