Over four out of every five companies incorporated with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last month got their licenses within one day because of an interagency initiative that made business registration easier and faster.
The Department of Finance (DOF) on Friday said in a statement that the SEC’s Integrated Business Registry System (IBRS) had been exceeding expectations.
Under the IBRS, 84.2 percent of applying firms had their respective licenses processed and approved within one business day, while 96.9 percent of applications that do not need secondary licenses were registered between April 15 and 30.
With the IBRS, registration with social security institutions such as Pag-IBIG, PhilHealth and Social Security System only involves one step, slashing the number of days it takes to start a business. From the previous 16 to 34 days, it may now take a company only 6 to 8 days to set up shop.
The SEC rolled out the system in April.
The DOF attributed this simpler business registration step to synergy in government transactions, coupled with the establishment of technology infrastructure supporting interconnectivity across national, local and social security institutions.
This month, the SEC hopes to process all applications not requiring secondary licenses within a single day.
“We are pleased to show that the IBRS, a flagship component of our ‘Ease of Doing Business’ reforms, is delivering speedy service for our clients. We expect the figures to reach a consistent 100 percent as we perfect our systems and processes. The IBRS is an innovation in governance. We are encouraged by the results, and will work harder to make starting a business here in the Philippines simpler, quicker and better,” SEC Chairperson Teresita J. Herbosa was quoted by the DOF as saying.
“We continue to make good on our promise to millions of enterprising Filipinos: That we will make the business of realizing your dreams ever easier, leveraging technology and synergy across government. Transforming the Philippines into a country of renewed opportunity for our young and ambitious population underpins our mission to simplify and improve the conduct of business in the country,” Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima said.
Last April, a total of 12 government agencies pledged to implement reforms that would further ease business registration processes in order to improve the country’s global competitiveness ranking.