The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) yesterday said the passage by the third quarter of the year of three pieces of legislation that would open up more sectors to foreign ownership would keep the momentum achieved by the country foreign direct investments (FDIs).
“As long as we are able to pass those laws this third quarter, there’s still a good chance to benefit from the improvement in the investment climate.. and a more liberal structure that will allow higher foreign equity participation in these critical sectors like retail and public service, “ said DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez over Market Edge when asked about the impact of the delay in passing the amendments to the
Public Services Act, Retail Trade Liberalization Act and the Foreign Investments Act.
Lopez said in the first quarter of this year, the Philippines posted triple digit growth in FDI.
“We’ve seen some rebound in FDI and we just hope that we can continue with that,” he said noting these and the tax reform, the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises passed earlier this year could help attract more FDIs.
“We hope these three laws will be put into effect by this third quarter and hopefully before October,” Lopez added, without elaborating.
But legislators are expected to prepare for the election season, with October as the period of filing of candidacy.
As of April 1, FDIs more than doubled to $679 million.
But Lopez on Monday told a virtual forum the imposition of a two-week enhanced community quarantine starting August 6, will affect the economy and would delay the recovery.
“We need to return to full economic activity after this lockdown.
We are confident that we can achieve this. Prior to the pandemic, we had strong economic fundamentals,” he said, adding before the pandemic, the country was the third fastest growing economy in the region. – Irma Isip
