The World Bank said the Philippines can realize a 5-percent “productivity kick” by narrowing the gaps in doing business in the country which has lagged in public service and in operational efficiency.
With this, the Philippines targets to move up to the top 20-percentile of countries regarded as business-ready by 2026, up from top 40 percentile at present, according to Secretary Ernesto Perez, director-general of the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA).
Perez was commenting on the results of the inaugural Business Ready (B-Ready) Report of the World Bank which piloted this year on 50 economies, including the Philippines.
Gonzalo Varela, lead economist for Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines Prosperity (Economic Policy) of the World Bank, said the Philippines has a good regulatory framework, meaning it has the necessary laws and regulations. The Philippines ranked 16th in this pillar in the B-Ready eport.
“But is (the regulatory framework) implemented properly? This is the lagging area for the Philippines. This is where the Philippine punches below its weight. This is a crucial area of improvement for the country,” Varela said at the 2024 Ease of Doing Business Convention in Pasay City yesterday.
Specifically, the Philippines has performed below par on business entry and closing a business as well as business location.
“If you can narrow the gaps in these areas… you can get a 5 percent productivity kick by narrowing the gaps between public service, quality and regulatory framework in these dimensions,” Varela said.
Perez said while the Philippines is strong in terms of laws and regulations, implementation of these laws needs more improvement.
Perez believes the survey did not reflect reforms implemented in 2023 and 2024 but said ARTA will nevertheless pursue measures to improve the Philippines’ rank.
“Survey results have a direct bearing on foreign direct investments. Investors look at the ranking when they decide to invest in a country. If it is difficult to register (a business), they will pull out,” Perez said.
One measure that will immediately address this is by having more agencies and local government units digitize their processes.
The target is to secure a business permit within 10 minutes, Perez said.
