Aquino makes pitch for foreign investment in PH

NEW YORK – President Benigno Aquino III told American and other business leaders on Monday (Tuesday in Manila) that the Philippines was a good country to invest their money in because of the more favorable business climate under his administration.

In a speech to the US Chambers of Commerce, the US-Asean Business Council and the Philippine-American Chambers of Commerce at the Peninsula Hotel here, the President said there was  “much reason to be optimistic” about the country’s future.

“Government’s fiscal management has improved to the point where we have been able to increase spending on vital social services and national defense without raising taxes this year,” President Aquino said.

There is also the fact that the proper processes are now being observed, there is prudent spending and vigilance against corruption, all of which have resulted in billions of pesos in savings which in turn are channeled back to the people in the form of programs in education, health and poverty alleviation, Mr. Aquino said.

“And when in the past, chunks of public funds were lost to the pockets of corrupt politicians, now, every peso that is allotted for a road, a bridge, a port, or a school indeed goes to the building of a road, a bridge, a port, or a school,” he said.

But it was this prudent spending that has led critics to “accuse us of not spending the public funds [fast] enough,” the President said.

“We are now seeing the results of a government working doubly hard, not just to improve the overall business environment but more importantly to advance the lives of its people,” Aquino said.

He also mentioned the fact that since he took office last year, the country has gotten four positive rating actions in over a little more than a year, a big difference from the one upgrade and six downgrades seen during the almost 10 years in office of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

There was also the fact that the Philippines has been ranked 75th in the World Economic Forum’s 2011-2012 Competitiveness report, which Mr. Aquino said was “a full ten notches above our ranking in the previous report.”

He also assured American businessmen that his administration was committed to level the playing field as it rebuilds its institutions, “especially those crucial to my pledge of curbing corruption.”

“We are doing what we can as government but parallel to this, we continue to invite private institutions to partner with us in projects that will form the foundations of further, wider-ranging growth,” Mr. Aquino  said.