Planned EO to expedite strategic investments – DTI

MANILA, Philippines — The planned executive order (EO) aimed at expediting the processing and issuance of permits and licenses for strategic investments is seen to create a favorable business ecosystem in the country, according to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

In a statement over the weekend, the DTI said President Marcos would sign an EO providing for guidelines to expedite the processing and issuance of permits and licenses for the implementation of strategic investments in the Philippines and the creation of a green lane that will translate to more quality jobs for Filipinos.

This developed after the DTI and Board of Investments (BOI) proposed an EO to the President for the creation of a Green lane and technology-abled One-Stop Action Center for strategic investments.

“This EO will be complementary with the functions of the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA). Through this and with the help of ARTA, especially in streamlining government procedures, we will create a more favorable business ecosystem in the country by ensuring that investors who are planning to expand in the Philippines will go through seamless application processes,” Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual said in a statement.

“Once this is done, we expect that more jobs will be generated for our kababayans, especially in less developed areas,” he said.

According to the DTI, the EO is aimed at encouraging investors to engage in strategic investments by facilitating and expediting actions related to the application of permits and licenses filed with national government agencies (NGAs) and their regional and provincial offices and Local Government Units (LGUs).

In addition, it also contains a provision that mandates NGAs and LGUs to simultaneously process applications for permits and licenses with the presumption that relevant documents from other agencies have already been issued.

“Relative to this, the applicant shall execute an affidavit of undertaking that it has secured the relevant documents from specific NGAs or LGUs and/or that it shall submit the complete documentary requirements within 30 working days,” the DTI said.

Other key features of the proposed EO are the single point of entry for strategic investments availing of the Green Lane services with dedicated accounts officers designated to specific strategic investments for monitoring purposes.