President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. will be signing an Executive Order (EO) to promote ease of doing business in the Philippines and make it competitive with other Southeast Asian nations in terms of attracting Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs).
This comes after the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on Tuesday presented to the President the proposed EO on the Creation of Green Lane for Strategic Investments after identifying the barrier across multiple regulatory agencies that hamper the smooth entry of FDIs in the country.
The EO will mandate concerned offices to establish a Green Lane to expedite and streamline the process and requirements for the issuance of permits and licenses, including resolutions of issues concerning strategic investments.
“Malaking bagay ‘yun. That will address immediately ‘yung tinatawag na ease of doing business na laging nirereklamo sa atin,” President Marcos told DTI officials during the meeting in Malacanang Palace.
“Until we get to change the procedures… and to say that… baka ito hindi na kailangan, baka ito extraneous na ito, ito obsolete na ito, ganyan. You cut it down as much as we can,” the President pointed out.
The proposed EO will cover all national government agencies (NGAs) and their regional and provincial offices, local government units (LGUs) and quasi-judicial bodies involved in issuing permits and licenses necessary for establishing strategic investments in the country.
Among the strategic investments identified by the DTI were projects of national significance, highly desirable projects endorsed by the Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB) and FDIs endorsed by the Inter-Agency Investments Promotion Coordination Committee (IAIPCC) or priority projects or activities under the Strategic Investment Priority Plan (SIPP), which are considered as projects of national significance or highly desirable that may be endorsed by the Board of Investments (BOI) of the concerned Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs).
The EO mandates NGAs and LGUs to act on a permit or license application not longer than three working days in the case of a simple transaction, seven working days in the case of complex transactions, and 20 working days for highly technical transactions from the date of receipt.
A technical working group headed by the DTI’s BOI will implement the EO and a BOI-Investment Assistance Service (BOI-IAS) will become the single point of entry of investment availing of the Green Lane services endorsed as nationally significant or highly desirable projects.
Non-compliance with the EO’s provisions will be a ground for administrative and disciplinary sanctions against any erring public officer or employee, as provided under existing laws and regulations.
