American investors urged to pour more money into PH

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III has urged American investors to pour more money into what he described as “Asia’s next ecoomic powerhouse.”

“Our prospects for faster economic growth in the coming years should be an avenue for stronger collaboration with the US, especially with the private sector. We would like to encourage US businesses to be more engaged in the Philippine market not only in the infrastructure program but also in investments that would come as a result of our infrastructure development,” Dominguez was quoted by the Department of Finance (DOF) as telling leaders of the US Chamber of Commerce (USSC) last April 12 in Washington, DC.

In a statement Monday, the DOF said Dominguez had told USSC members that now was “the best time” to invest in the Philippines’ education, energy, health, infrastructure, and information and communications technology sectors.

As for his claim that the Philippines will be the next economic powerhouse in the region, Dominguez attributed this to “rapid economic expansion sustained through the government’s implementation of tough reforms and record investments in infrastructure and human capital development.”

Dominguez said investors’ concerns such as corruption and inefficiency in government, the gap in infrastructure development, and the high cost of doing business in the country were already being addressed by the Duterte administration.

“The signing into law of the Ease of Doing Business (EODB) Act and the administration’s push for the swift congressional approval of the Tax Reform for Attracting Better and Higher Quality Opportunities (Trabaho) bill—it aims to lower the corporate income tax rate and rationalize fiscal incentives to make them performance-based, time-bound, targeted and fully transparent—are among the measures being undertaken by the Duterte administration to further enhance the Philippines’ status as a premier investment destination in the region,” he said.