Gov’t addresses infra project bottlenecks, makes business competitive

Secretary of Socioeconomic Planning Ernesto Pernia says in the Aksyon Para sa Ambisyon Philippine Development Plan/Regional Development Plan Expo on July 18 that the region continues to work to be a major industrial hub and trade center in southern Philippines, and shows a potential growth in banana industry, rubber, bamboo, cacao, coco coir, coffee, agribusiness and tourism. (Photo By Philippine Information Agency, Public Domain)

MANILA, Aug. 9 — Government economic planners on Wednesday highlighted the significant strides the country made in making businesses and the economy competitive, particularly in addressing the bottlenecks on implementation of infrastructure projects.

In his speech delivered during the Philippine Development Forum, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said the country has adopted new policies to improve and streamline the approval processes of major public investment projects.

Pernia said these include the raising of the Investment Coordination Committee (ICC) project review cost floor from PHP1 billion to PHP2.5 billion; and streamlining of approval procedures for minor changes in scope, cost, financing and extension of implementation or loan/grant validity of projects.

As of July 24, there were 15 awarded public-private partnership (PPP) projects and 20 PPP projects in the pipeline, most of which were approved during the previous administration.

The Duterte administration is committed to pursue and respect all previously – approved PPP projects regardless of which were approved during the previous administration.

Pernia, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Director General, also cited the amendments to the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Law and its implementing rules and regulations (IRR), which were part of the legislative agenda proposed under the Philippine Development Plan (PDP).

He said the bill was among those endorsed by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council Executive Committee (LEDAC-ExCom) for adoption by the full Council. 

“The amendment will introduce reforms to address bottlenecks in PPP project implementation, further encourage private sector participation, and keep the policies attuned to the changing business environment,” he noted.

Reducing bottlenecks in the implementation of PPP and infrastructure projects was among the top 10 actionable recommendations submitted by the private sector for the government to consider at last year’s Sulong Pilipinas forum – in the context of the 0-10 points Socioeconomic Agenda of the Duterte administration.

Pernia said the NEDA Board also approved last month the adoption of a National Transport Policy (NTP) which envisioned a national transport system that is “safe, secure, reliable, efficient, integrated, intermodal, affordable, cost-effective, environmentally sustainable and people-oriented.”

He identified regional transport infrastructure, such as airports, and mass transport infrastructure that will facilitate ingress and egress of goods and people in metropolitan centers, among the priorities of the administration.

Pernia said the administration likewise supports a long overdue tax reform crucial to help the Philippines attain upper middle income country status, and reduce poverty incidence to 14 percent by year 2022.

“The gains from tax reform will also help fund high-impact infrastructure projects, as well as programs in education and health (including full implementation of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health law),” he stressed.

The NEDA chief further said economic planners have included a Tax Reform Program in the priority legislative agenda of the PDP. 

Congress has already approved the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program’s (CTRP) first package on third reading last May, upon the President’s certification of the proposed legislation as “urgent”,” he said.

“We now look forward to its approval in the Senate within the year,” he added.

Pernia identified other top actionable recommendations of the private sector which the country made significant strides.

These are improving the ease of doing business, developing regional industries and local workforce, implementation of a National Broadband Plan, National ID system for improved targeting of social services and responsible mining, delivery of support services to the farmers and reviewing the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) Program.

These actionable recommendations are in line with the PDP 2017 to 2022, the blueprint for the country’s development over the next six years.