Government may revise incentives plan

In an attempt to attract more investors, the government is looking at revising its incentives plan by changing its tax perks program every three years instead of every year.

A ranking trade official who spoke under the condition of anonymity said there are talks of making the government’s Investment Priority Plan (IPP) good for three years instead of one.

The source said a three-year plan will be more effective because the investment climate does not change every year.

Also, the source said a three-year IPP would help companies with their investments plan.

“A three-year IPP will have more continuity because there were instances wherein foreign firms express interest in investing in the country but when the companies return after a year, the incentives were changed,” the source said.

The approval of the 2007 IPP was filled with controversy after last minute changes were made at the behest of several government agencies.

As with the 2006 IPP, the 2007 IPP listed 12 preferred areas. However, two areas were deleted from the 2006 IPP, the jewelry and fashion garments. Replacing these sectors were iron and steel and research and development/training institutions.

The jewelry and fashion garments were removed because the two are mainly for exports.

The  2007 IPP in infrastructure is similar to the 2006 IPP. In the agribusiness/agriculture, fishery and support services, the 2007 IPP proposed building support facilities and services. It also covers commercial production and commercial processing of agricultural and fishery products including their by-products and wastes.

Healthcare and wellness, on the other hand, covers hospital, medical, dental and ambulatory services, wellness spa, traditional healthcare services and the manufacture of healthcare and wellness products.

The Information and Communications Technology Sector expanded to cover business knowledge process outsourcing, software development, animation, data transcription, engineering design and ICT support services.

Electronics was the same as last year as it covers original design manufacturing, electronics manufacturing services, the manufacture of electronic products among others.

For the Motor Vehicle Products, it covers the manufacture or assembly of motor vehicles included in the Motor Vehicle Development Program and the production of its parts and components.

Energy covers power generation using non-conventional and renewable energy sources, power transmission and activities using energy technology.

For tourism, a tourist accommodation facilities will be built while shipbuilding and shipping was the same as the 2006 IPP. The machinery and equipment, raw materials and intermediate inputs were likewise unchanged.