CEBU, Philippines - The Board of Investments (BOI) is calling the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) entrepreneurs in Cebu and the entire Central Visayas to register with the Board in order to enjoy the incentives given by the government.
BOI governor Oliver Butalid made this call after the Board noted a few number of SMEs enjoying the fiscal and tax perks by the government.
“There are many eligible SMEs to get incentives, but they don’t register with us, or maybe they are not aware of the BOI-given benefits,†said Butalid, reiterating that BOI is not only giving tax and duty breaks to big ticket investments, but also the SMEs.
He said incentives should be availed of by the SMEs this time in order for them to be competitive.
In the region, Butalid said there are only a few SMEs applying for BOI incentives while most of the applications are big ticket investors.
Butalid specifically made mention of the hospitals and clinics in Cebu, calling the operators to avail of the BOI incentives.
“We want hospitals and even other establishments in the medical field or medical tourism to get registered with the Board. This sector is significantly growing,†he said adding that at present, there are no hospitals in Cebu that get BOI registration.
Under the 2013 Investment Priority Plan (IPP), medical establishments eligible for BOI incentives are those general and specialty hospitals and other health facilities pursuant to the Department of Health’s administrative order 2012-0012.
Aside from hospitals and medical institutions, there are a lot of SME operated businesses that are not enjoying benefits or duty-free incentives from the Board.
Last year, Central Visayas registered P46.81 billion worth of investments approved by BOI but this figure was only 13 percent of the country’s P360.35 billion total investments recorded in 2012.
The proposed 2013 IPP still has the same listing as the 2012 IPP except that the new land mass transport now covers alternative fuel vehicle buses under the infrastructure list.
This year’s final IPP is expected to be released sometime in the middle of the year after they make revisions or improvements based on comments and suggestions from individuals.
BOI is also considering the inclusion of the creative industry to the priority plan that will not only include the highly-skilled software developers but also the mainstream creative sector players.
Based on the proposed investment priority, the creative industry that is part of the incentive umbrella covers non-voice business processing operation, creative and knowledge-based services.
Meanwhile, although the creative sector is included as second in the list of preferred investment priorities, Creative Cebu Council officer Ian Zafra said the BOI's description on creative sector is too limited.
Zafra said the creative sector is not only limited to animation and technology related works, but also includes music, film, original composition, among others. /JMD (FREEMAN)