One-stop shops eyed for semiconductor, water projects
MANILA, Philippines – The Anti-Red Tape Authority (Arta) is expanding its sector-specific one-stop shop to semiconductors and water projects to streamline permits and accelerate investments.
Arta Director General Ernesto Perez said the agency targets the semiconductor one-stop shop in October, while the water-project counterpart is still pending Malacañang’s approval.
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These sectors will be the latest covered by Arta’s one-stop shop framework, which consolidates and digitizes permitting and clearance processes.
“Our efforts so far are working in terms of ensuring that we prioritize sectors, and then come up with a business one-stop shop, and then re-engineering of government policies, implementation of a zero-backlog program, and a no-contact policy,” Perez said at a forum for Swedish businesses.
Ahead of these initiatives, Arta has already begun rolling out a one-stop shop for housing projects.
Meanwhile, Perez said regulators signed a joint circular on housing development on June 8 ahead of a July 14 public forum.
The circular streamlines housing permits and clearances while paving the way for an electronic one-stop shop.
It covers key housing-related agencies, including the Departments of Human Settlements, Environment, Agrarian Reform and Agriculture, as well as the Land Registration Authority, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, Bureau of Internal Revenue and local government units.
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Perez said the agency will work with the Department of Trade and Industry on the semiconductor sector, while the Department of Energy will continue leading energy projects.
Perez said Arta’s goal is to establish 11 sectoral one-stop shops by the end of the year.
After completing its one-stop shop for telecommunications and digital infrastructure, Arta is now working on mining and renewable energy sectors.
Arta is the lead implementer of the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018.
The one-stop shop program forms part of a 2020 streamlining initiative aimed at reducing permitting backlogs, costs and processing times. /pai INQ
