Businessmen laud GMA on infrastructure development

Local businessmen lauded yesterday President Arroyo’s achievements in infrastructure projects and expressed full support for other flagship projects expected to be bared during tomorrow’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) in Congress.

“There has been a substantial improvement. We expect her to stay the course for the next three years,” Ambassador Donald Dee, chairman of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), told The STAR.

In a telephone interview, Dee said Mrs. Arroyo met with businessmen earlier to discuss what are needed to spur investments in the country. He said, the Chief Executive bared her priority projects to the group.

The list of priority projects, Dee said, include train projects such as the North Rail and MRT; roads like the South Luzon Expressway, the North Luzon Expressway and the Skyway; and the roll on, roll off (Ro-ro) nautical highway.

“We are very satisfied with the projects she has listed. We hope the government continues to spend more on infrastructure,” Dee noted.

He stressed that once businessmen see there are adequate ports and an effective transportation system in place, they will set up shop in the country.

Currently, Dee said there are already a number of foreign investors coming in, with Texas Instrument leading the pack. “The foreigners are already here especially in our freeport zones like Subic and Clark,” he explained.

Dee said foreign investments are larger than local investments. “I think the ratio is about four-is-to-one,” he pointed out.

As such, Dee said it is vital to encourage domestic businessmen to pour in more cash in the country. “We need domestic investment if we want to sustain our more than six percent growth,” he added.

Dee said the local economy is buoyed by government and consumer spending. He stressed that a healthy economy must be supported not only by expenditures but also by investments.

“There is really an urgent need to convince Filipinos to enter into businesses. The opportunity is here. Small and medium-sized entrepreneurs could build around big foreign investments and act as support industry,” Dee said.

In the past, he said the reason why the Philippines is not an attractive place for investors is due to the lack of infrastructure. “We were simply not competitive. Capital expenditure was very low.”

However, he said things have changed in the past two years as the government implemented fiscal reform measures specifically the expanded value-added tax.