PH to open construction sector to foreign companies

The Philippines is opening up the local construction and related industries to enable foreign companies to secure construction permits as regular contractors, and participate in local projects with full equity.

Public Works Secretary Rogelio L. Singson said at the 2nd EU-Philippines Business Dialogue on Tuesday that they expected the Department of Trade and Industry, which chairs the Construction Industry Authority of the Philippines (CIAP), to issue in a month’s time the guidelines for a new license category called Quadruple A.

“The Philippines needs more foreign contractors. We are opening the Quadruple A category for foreigners so they can be granted construction permits not only on a per-project basis but so they can be registered as regular contractors. You can take advantage of the quadruple vehicle we’re issuing very soon so you can locate your operations here and take advantage of the thousands of Filipino engineers and operators,” Singson told attending members of the various European business organizations based in the country.

Singson said European firms could use the Philippines as their regional base or hub from where they could set up their offices and employ the thousands of Filipino engineers and operators, tap the various construction opportunities not only here in the country, but within the Asean as well.

According to Singson, there was a proposed board resolution for the creation of the Quadruple A category license back in 2013, but that did not prosper because local contractors were opposing it.

“We’ve had several dialogues with the local contractors and all they are asking is that they will not be put at a disadvantage by allowing foreign contractors to be registered. We have come to an agreement that there will be minimum investment requirements of about P1 billion—it cannot be less than what the Filipino contractors with Triple A license are investing,” Singson explained.

“The guidelines will be issued by DTI very soon—in a month it should be out. It’s a matter of (Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo) signing the resolution. That should be sufficient as this was already supported by the economic cluster,” he further said.