Administration urged to speed up economic reforms

MANILA, Philippines - With the Philippines hosting the World Economic Forum-East Asia this week, senators on Thursday prodded the administration to speed up efforts to improve the competitiveness of the country's economy and infrastructure.

Senate President Franklin Drilon along with Senators Juan Edgardo Angara, Loren Legarda, and Grace Poe agree that the event is an opportunity to showcase the Philippines'  economic turnaround.

Drilon said the WEF-East Asia is an auspicious venue to encourage more investors to do business in our country, expand trade activities and attract more tourists.

While we highlight our economic gains, Drilon said the government must not lose sight of the fact that much more needs to be done to attain inclusive growth.

“We need to create more jobs for our people and ease poverty,” Drilon said.

The Senate President said that the administration is taking concrete measures to strengthen the country's economic fundamentals so as to transform the Philippines into a major investment and tourist destination in Asia.

Angara said the country's hosting of the WEF is a signal to the world that the Philippines is ready to engage with the rest of the world in the economic sphere.

Angara, chairman of the Senate committee on ways and means, said the country should look into infrastructure development and reforming tax laws to be more competitive.

“There are several good business opportunities in various areas that the rest of the world didn't know existed,” Angara said.

“In order to be more competitive we should look at our investment and tax laws to measure how we stack up against other nations in the region and we should likewise make sure our infrastructure and our institutions are up to par and world class,” Angara added.

Angara sees the need to re-examine the tax structure, airports,  and the mass transit system.

“We should be looking at the nationality restrictions per industry, we should be looking at potential bottlenecks to investments and jobs coming our way -- like the poor state of our airport and mass transit system and the lack of dependable and affordable power are obvious bottlenecks to further and faster progress.

Legarda said the Philippine hosting of WEF provides a perfect opportunity to tell the region and the world that the country is back in business.

“This is a perfect time to showcase our resiliency -- that despite the calamities and the global financial crisis, our economy has grown by more than 6 percent over the past 8 quarters,” she said, noting that the country’s economy grew  last year by 7.2 percent.

According to Legarda, the WEF lends its credibility to the event, “thus we should make the most out of it in terms of networking and harnessing opportunities.”

By Dec. 2015, the ASEAN Economic Community will emerge to create a single market and production base and a highly competitive economic region. “This will give our region a bigger voice and influence in the global economic stage if we do things right,” Legarda said.

Legarda added the WEF provides a platform to discuss the impact of economic integration come 2015.

“'Competition and Cooperation' is the name of the game, thus the Philippines' need to strengthen and capacitate its MSMEs which are said to be the backbone of our economy,” Legarda said.

Poe  said the WEF event is a "good opportunity to lure more investors to come in particularly with the promise of lasting peace in Mindanao.”

Poe stressed the need for the government to “now pursue vigorously, and with renewed focus, the immediate launch and completion of all major infrastructure projects under the...Public-Private Partnership (PPP)."

In addition, Poe said the government should pursue reforms in the bureaucracy to  make it easier for investors to start and do business. Poe also batted for the need to pass the Freedom of Information act to complement this reform for greater transparency paving the way for better government service.