Improved Philippines ranking in ease of doing business a boon to hotel investments

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines can attract more hospitality players to invest into the country with the improvement in its ease of doing business ranking, a property services firm said.

“The improvement rankings are important especially if we are to entice more foreign hospitality players to invest in the Philippines,” Colliers International Philippines research manager Joey Roi Bondoc told The Star.

“That’s a definite plus for the Duterte administration’s pro-tourism efforts. It only means that the Philippines is now more open to foreign investments especially those funneled into the hospitality sector,” he added.

In the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business (EODB) report 2020, the Philippines reclaimed its highest ranking as it jumped a record 29 notches this year to rank 95th out of 190 economies across the globe.

Last year, the Philippines was at 124th place. Its overall score went up to 62.8 this year from 57.68 last year.

Bondoc said improvements in the categories of starting a business and dealing with construction permits are seen attractive to hospitality investors.

“These are major concerns of hospitality investors and the survey results show that our ease of doing business programs are starting to bear fruit,” he said.

In terms of dealing with construction permits, the Philippines ranked 85th with a score of 70.0. This is an improvement from last year’s 94th ranking and 68.58 score.

“The Philippines made dealings with construction permits easier by improving coordination and streamlining the process for obtaining an occupancy certificate,” the World Bank said.

While the Philippines fell a few steps in the starting a business category from 166 to 171, the World Bank highlighted that the country made starting a business easier by abolishing the minimum capital requirement for domestic companies.

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez earlier said that 53 Philippine reforms were credited by the World Bank in the latest EODB report.

 “The Philippines was cited by the World Bank as one of 42 economies which implemented regulatory reforms which resulted in significant improvements in EODB scores,” Lopez said.

Lopez said the country is aiming to further improve its ranking in next year’s EODB report, particularly targeting to rank around 70th.

The trade chief expressed optimism in further growing the country’s ranking in future editions of the report, as the country looks to implement more reforms.

 “While not all reforms were accepted by the World Bank in this cycle, we are counting on the newly established Anti Red Tape Authority (ARTA) to ensure that the agencies continue the EODB reforms already initiated. These reforms must create a positive impact on our stakeholders,” he added.

Apart from the ease of doing business, Bondoc earlier cited the need to boost the tourism sector’s competitiveness in order to attract more hospitality investments into the country.

“This, in turn, should boost hotel occupancy rates and entice local and foreign businessmen to ramp up their leisure-related investments in the country,” Bondoc earlier said.
“Colliers believes that the development of an alternative international gateway in Luzon as well as the expansion of regional airports in Visayas and Mindanao should further entice foreigners to visit the country, improve Philippine tourism’s competitiveness and eventually boost demand for tourism-related establishments and services,” he added.

Tourism Undersecretary Benito Bengzon Jr. earlier cited the need to improve the country’s airports.

 “If we want to improve our competitiveness, we have to continue to work on air connectivity,” Bengzon said.