Mining reforms make Philippines more attractive to investors – COMP

MANILA, Philippines — The reforms in the mining industry allowed the country to improve its global ranking in terms of investment attractiveness and policy perception, the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP) said.

The country ranked 16th out of 82 jurisdictions in investment attractiveness and 25th in policy perception in Fraser Institute’s 2024 Annual Survey of Mining Companies.

The country also placed 9th out of 58 highly endowed jurisdictions in best practices mineral potential.

The latest ranks showed a leap from the country’s placing in the 2023 survey, when the Philippines ranked 72nd in investment attractiveness, 79th in policy perception and 41st in best practices mineral potential.

“Under President Marcos, the Philippine government has sent a clear and consistent message: responsible mining is welcome and needed as a catalyst for rural development and the clean energy transition,” COMP chairman Michael Toledo said.

Toledo said the jump in the country’s investment attractiveness ranking was a result of the policy reforms made by the Marcos administration aimed at “creating greater policy stability and making it easier to do business for responsible miners.”

Toledo pointed out that the “whole-of-government approach” by the administration on streamlining the permitting process for mining applications is starting to bear fruit.

“Even better, the forthcoming Mining Fiscal Regime Bill promises to lock in even more predictability and strengthen the Philippines’ reputation as a reliable destination for long-term mineral investments,” Toledo said.

“Importantly, these reforms were spearheaded and strongly advocated by the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines, in close coordination with the Office of the President and key agencies,” he added.

Nonetheless, Toledo said that additional work must be done to fully align state policies with the country’s immense mineral potential.

“We therefore reiterate our support for further reforms and commit to responsible resource development through our Towards Sustainable Mining initiative,” Toledo said.

“With continued government-industry collaboration, we believe the Philippines can become a top-tier destination for responsible mineral investment,” Toledo added.

The Fraser Institute is a Canadian think-tank known for its independent research on economic and public policy issues, according to COMP.

COMP said the institute’s annual survey is an international standard for assessing the investment attractiveness and policy environment of mining jurisdictions.