Duterte OKs strategic investment priorities plan

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte has approved this year's strategic investment priority plan, which contains activities related to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to promote economic resilience.

The approval of the 2022 Strategic Investment Priority Plan is contained in Memorandum Circular No. 61 signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea by authority of the president last May 24.

The Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act signed by Duterte in 2021 mandates agencies administering tax perks and the private sector to formulate the strategic investment priority plan and submit it to the President for approval. The document is the first list of priority activities that can avail of tax perks under the CREATE Act. 

Under this year's plan, all activities listed in the 2020 Investment Priorities Plan are under Tier I unless listed in other groupings.

Preferred activities enumerated in the 2020 plan included those related to the fight against the pandemic namely essential goods such as medicines, medical, surgical and laboratory equipment, and medical supplies, tools and consumables; and essential services like quarantine and test facilities, health waste treatment and crematoriums.

Also in the 2020 investment priorities plan were investments in activities supportive of programs to generate employment opportunities outside of congested urban areas; all qualified manufacturing activities including the manufacture of industrial goods and processing of agricultural and fishery products; agriculture, fishery and forestry; strategic services like integrated circuits design, creative and knowledge-based services, maintenance, repair and overhaul of aircraft, charging and refueling stations for alternative energy vehicles, industrial waste treatment, telecommunications, and state-of-the-art engineering, procurement and construction.

Other items the 2020 plan were healthcare and disaster risk reduction management services like the establishment of hospitals, drug rehabilitation and evacuation centers; mass housing; infrastructure and logistics including public-private partnerships implemented by local governments; innovation drivers like research and development activities and clinical trials; inclusive business models like the activities of medium and large enterprises in agribusiness and tourism sectors that provide opportunities to micro and small enterprises as part of their value chains; environment or climate change-related projects and energy projects.

Also in the 2020 Investment Priorities Plan were export activities namely production and manufacture of export products, services exports, and activities designed to support exporters. The 2020 plan also covered activities where inclusion in the investment priorities plan is mandated for purposes of incentives. The activities were granted incentives under existing laws on tree plantation, mining, publication, petroleum products, persons with disability, renewable energy, tourism, and energy efficiency and conservation.

Activities under the Tier II of the 2022 Investment Priorities Plan aim to promote a competitive and resilient economy and fill in gaps of the Philippines' industrial value chains.

Included in Tier II are activities related to green ecosystems such as electric vehicle (EV) assembly, manufacture of EV parts, components and systems, establishment and operation of EV infrastructure; manufacture of energy efficient maritime vessels and equipment; energy efficiency and conservation projects; and other related endeavors; health-related activities such as manufacturing in support of the vaccine self-reliance program or other health-related programs; defense-related activities; activities designed to address industrial value chain gaps in steel, textiles, chemicals, green metals processing, crude oil refining, and lab scale water fabrication; and food security-related activities, including those that support organic agriculture, manufacture of animal vaccine, fertilizers and pesticides, and agricultural and fisheries machinery and equipment.

Tier III activities aim to accelerate the transformation of the economy by applying research and development and attracting technology investments. The items under the grouping are research and development and activities adopting advanced digital production technologies of the fourth industrial revolution such as robotics, data analytics and artificial intelligence; highly technical manufacturing and production of innovative products and services like manufacture of equipment, parts and services, commercialization of intellectual property and research and development products and services; aerospace, medical devices, internet of things devices and systems, full-scale water fabrication and advanced materials; and establishment of innovation support families like research and development hubs and science and technology parks.

All agencies were directed to issue the necessary regulations to ensure the implementation of the plan. All investment promotion agencies were also instructed to facilitate and expedite the setting up and conduct of registered projects or activities through the one-stop action center.  Local governments and other agencies are expected to coordinate with investment promotion agencies to comply with the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018.