Noy to EU investors: Phl now more conducive to business

BRUSSELS – From cutting bureaucratic red tape to eliminating corruption, President Aquino told prospective investors here Tuesday that his administration has gained inroads in making the Philippines more conducive to business.

“From the mere promise of reform that we gave businessmen back in 2010, today the results of our good governance agenda have allowed us to come so far, as we stand in front of so many potential partners,” Aquino said during a Conference on Public-Private Partnership Programs for Infrastructure Projects attended by businessmen here at the hotel Sofitel.

“Today, I am confident in telling you: take a look at what we have to offer... There is indeed a wealth of opportunity in the Philippines, and we hope to forge new partnerships or even broaden the existing ones in the near future – partnerships where all parties involved will benefit, and will contribute to the rise of Asia’s next tiger,” Aquino said.

The President said his administration had to do a lot of housecleaning after taking over a discredited regime, and that by attracting more investments and creating jobs he could now say that his and his officials’ efforts were paying off.

He also assured the businessmen that the government would always be a partner in development and not an accomplice in or a perpetrator of bad business practices like overpricing of projects or collecting commissions.

It has been a very productive four years for his administration, Aquino said, as he cited that average annual gross domestic product growth rate since 2010 stood at 6.3 percent, compared to 4.3 percent from 2006 to 2009.

“Our GDP growth for the second quarter of this year stands at 6.4 percent, and we are well on our way to achieving our target of at least 6.5 to potentially 7.5 GDP growth for the entire year,” Aquino said.

In 2010 when he assumed office, Aquino said the only assurance his administration could give the businessmen was its commitment to integrity – that under his watch, businesses would enjoy a level playing field and the people empowered and their creativity harnessed.

“Unfortunately, for the past three administrations, the scales were rather unbalanced: every incentive was seemingly put on the table just to be able to interest and attract investors – from commercial developmental rights, to subsidies,” he said.

“Not to mention the fact that only six solicited projects were awarded in the 18 years before we entered office in 2010,” he said.

In contrast, he said his administration was able to award and sign off on eight solicited public-private partnership projects, for a total value of P62.6 billion or around $1.3 billion.

“The promises we made to business and to the Filipino people were promises we intended to fulfill – through good governance, transparency and accountability,” Aquino said.

He also said he has strengthened institutions weakened by corruption and impunity during the previous administration.

“Streamlining the procurement process in each government agency allowed us to cut waste further. Meanwhile, prudent management gave us even more fiscal space to make greater investments, especially in social services and in infrastructure development,” he said.

Opportunities for corruption, he said, had been eliminated through streamlining the process of setting up shop in the Philippines.

“To obtain business permits and licenses, for example, you now need only one form, for a processing time of three days maximum – a vast improvement from the previous more than 10-step application process and a hopeful three-month processing time,” Aquino said.

“We engendered a shift from a trickle-down mindset, wherein our people will somehow benefit from progress, to a mindset wherein we proactively put our people in the most optimal position to take advantage of the opportunities opening up through economic growth,” Aquino pointed out.

Under his administration, Aquino said inclusiveness is a cornerstone of business strategy rather than merely an after-effect of growth efforts.

He said budgets for social services, health and education received massive increases from 2010 to 2014, enabling the government to launch programs like the K to 12, which has put Philippine basic education system at par with international standards.

Companies in key industries work with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority to train, and later employ, graduates in key sectors, he added.

“The early results are proving that our strategy is working. Comparing the first quarter of 2012 to the first quarter of 2013, studies show that 2.5 million of our citizens have been lifted above the poverty line,” he said.

“And we continue to exert every effort to ensure that those who have been lifted out of the poverty line, or beyond the poverty line, will be given every opportunity to keep moving further away from the poverty line, so that no single illness or natural disaster can pull them back under,” he said.

“All this is being done in adherence to our belief that the Filipino people are our most important resource. Government intervention in the most strategic areas creates a virtuous cycle of productivity, confidence, and investment – and we set about doing our jobs with a stronger resolve,” Aquino said.

“We do not have to look beyond the area of public-private partnerships in order to see the transformation that has taken place in industry,” he said.

“All of you know that PPPs are regarded as ideal ventures precisely because all parties do benefit from them: private enterprise can profit by putting their expertise and knowledge and other resources to good use; government is able to complete large-scale projects at a more opportune time for the benefit of the people,” he pointed out.

German contracts

In Manila, the German embassy said President Aquino is expected to sign business contracts in Germany, the last leg of his four-nation European tour.

“The visit of President Aquino in Berlin is expected to be another milestone in deepening the already close ties which exist between Germany and the Philippines,” the embassy said.

On the invitation of Chancellor Angela Merkel, Aquino will visit Germany on Sept. 19. The President’s visit comes at a time when the Philippines and Germany celebrate the 60th year of diplomatic relations.

Aquino will call on Federal President Joachim Gauck and later hold political talks with Merkel.

He will meet the Filipino community in Germany and speak in a conference organized by the Koerber Foundation and the German Asia-Pacific Business Association.

The embassy said that during Aquino’s visit, there would be a formal recognition of the German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry through an exchange of notes, as well as the signing of a new bilateral agreement on social security.

Germany is the biggest economy in the European Union and the 4th largest in the world. With a bilateral trade volume of over 4 billion euros (about P230 billion) per year, Germany is the Philippines’ number one trade partner in Europe.

Germany is one of the Philippines’ top sources of foreign direct investment. German investments are mainly in the fields of manufacturing, technical services, business process outsourcing and energy, including renewable energy.

Germany is also an important donor of Official Development Assistance. A big chunk of its ODA goes to climate change and biodiversity initiatives. Other substantial development projects are in support of the peace process in Mindanao.

In the aftermath of Super Typhoon Yolanda, the German government and civil society donated more than 176 million euros (about P10 billion) for relief and rehabilitation efforts. German humanitarian organizations were also among the first to arrive and extend help in crisis areas. – Aurea Calica, Pia Lee-Brago