UK backs NCC program to cut red tape

MANILA, Philippines – The National Competitiveness Council (NCC)’s program of cutting red tape in the country has received backing from the United Kingdom.

In a signing ceremony, the NCC received technical assistance from the British Embassy through the Asia Pacific Bilateral Program Fund to support Project Repeal.

“The assistance will be used for the development, pilot–testing and initial rollout of the standard cost model for Project Repeal in a bid to come up with a systematic way of determining the savings brought about by reduced cost of compliance for businesses as a result of the streamlining of rules and regulations,” NCC private sector co-chairman Guillermo Luz said.

Luz said the assistance would also be utilized to conduct a series of activities, including supplementary focus group discussions that will be held in several regions in the country to have a wider stakeholder engagement and ensure the project’s greater impact.

Technical workshops on regulatory cost analysis and cost data capture and standardization will be organized in order to create a cost model that will provide a statistically robust, valid and reliable method in estimating the regulatory burdens imposed by existing regulations on businesses, the NCC said.

The NCC’s Project Repeal is a government-wide deregulation system that addresses the growing need for a wider effort to cut red tape across agencies.

An initiative that has drawn inspiration from UK’s Red Tape Challenge, Project Repeal was also initiated to facilitate an efficient government regulatory environment in the country by removing outdated, redundant and burdensome rules and regulations that have negatively affected the ease of doing business.

According to the NCC, red tape is among the top concerns that dampen business confidence and holds back the Philippines’ overall competitiveness.

“The country is firmly committed to reduce red tape through the simplification and streamlining of rules and regulations from national government agencies to local government units,” the NCC said.