With this year’s promising growth in our GDP, the Philippines has been dubbed the fastest-growing economy among Asian nations. We can achieve more if we are able to continuously improve on areas that are critical to growing the economy.
The difficulty of doing business has been our long standing problem. Although the Philippines moved up to no. 99 from no. 103 last year in World Bank’s “doing business” ranking, the Philippines dropped from number 165 to number 171 in the category of starting a business. Outdated procedures and “red tape” remain the biggest obstacles towards improving doing business. From setting-up, to complying with local rules and regulations, even dissolution of a business is a lengthy and complicated process. Many procedural reforms claim to have reduced the number of days to secure certificates, licenses, and permits. Yet in reality, it still takes at least one to as long as three months to fully register in all government agencies.
Nov 142016