Foreign chambers raise PH investment projection to $128B

The Joint Foreign Chambers (JFC) of the Philippines said it was eyeing an additional $50 billion in new foreign direct investments in the Philippines in the next decade, bringing its total projection from 2021 until 2030 to $128 billion.

JFC, which is a coalition of American, Australian-New Zealand, Canadian, European, Japanese, Korean chambers and the Philippine Association of Multinational Companies Regional Headquarters Inc., cited the potential of the Philippine government to pursue and implement necessary reforms and policies to bring in the added investments.

“Two years on, the Philippines is showing its ability to rapidly recover from the negative impact experienced at the height of the global COVID-19 pandemic,” JFC said, adding that the 7.6-percent growth in its gross domestic product in the third quarter was the second highest in Asean.

Asean stands for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a political and economic bloc of 10 member-states in Southeast Asia which include the Philippines.

“We expect the strong economic performance to continue with the recent undertaking of reforms and policy directions that we believe can provide significant opportunities for foreign investment, job creation, and improved services,” the JFC added.

Amendments

The JFC said these include the amendments to the Foreign Investments Act, Retail Trade Liberalization Act, and Public Service Act; reforms to develop important sectors of the economy such as the Creative Industries Development Act and the Electric Vehicles Development Act; and the opening up of the renewable energy sector to more foreign investments through a recent Department of Justice legal opinion and amendment of the implementing rules and regulations of the Renewable Energy Act of 2008.

The two other measures listed by the JFC are the revision of the implementing rules and regulations of the build-operate-transfer law to address private sector concerns and reinvigorate public-private partnership projects, as well as the decision to allow Information Technology and Business Process Management firms to implement alternative work arrangements without losing incentives.

“We believe that a highly experienced and competent economic team is in place and we trust they will manage appropriate interventions to influence inflation, supply chain blockages, and similar major challenges and headwinds to economic growth,” the group said.

“We, however, reiterate the need to pass additional reforms to further improve the country’s investment climate,” said JFC, which had recommended an initial list of 24 legislative measures that they are hoping Philippine legislators would act on.

The business group said these include the liberalization of foreign equity restrictions in the Philippine Constitution, the further lowering of barriers to entry in the telecommunication sector, and additional improvements to the tax system.