The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), the country’s biggest business association, has called on the government to ensure that policies will be more flexible to meet investors’ needs, amid a possible global economic slowdown.
Newly elected PCCI president Miguel B. Varela said this flexibility was critical in cushioning the possible domino effect on the economy of the eurozone debt crisis and the sluggish growth of the US economy.
The EU and the US are among the Philippines’ biggest markets for its products and sources of investments.
“While we have developed a relatively strong domestic base for our economy to be less affected by the global financial crisis, the fact remains that we are still dependent on our trade partners to sustain our economic growth and develop our industries,” Varela said.
“The way to make us more competitive is for the government to adopt flexible policies promoting long-term investments and economic stability,” he stressed.
In a statement, Varela said the government needed to look deeper on how it could adopt a more flexible environment for these investments to thrive. Power, he said, was a major obstacle that should be reformed and opened up to more competition.
He also urged the government to look into its own regulations, especially the ones related to labor, environment, taxation and trade facilitation, which affect the flow and expansion of investments.
The PCCI has vowed to work closely with the government in addressing critical areas that influence investment and economic development.
“Under the banner ‘PCCI Invest 2012,’ we will break down the critical drivers that influence our ability to attract and expand investments in the Philippines into broad areas of coordination, advocacy and policy setting (or CAPS) between government, our local chambers, our industry associations, business councils, and small and medium enterprises,” Varela said.
The PCCI identified 12 sectors that could drive economic growth. These are agribusiness; business process outsourcing; mining; tourism; home decor and lifestyle; shipbuilding, housing, construction and infrastructure; education; research and development and training; creative industries; electronics; transport equipment; and logistics.